The process will need to be somewhat rushed since superintendent Carl Harris plans to leave the school system Dec. 31, board members acknowledged.

But chairwoman Minnie Forte-Brown said there will still be opportunities for public input.

For now, the board is soliciting proposals from educational firms across the country that have experience with urban school districts. The search process itself could take up to six months.

Forte-Brown said detailed procedures for conducting a superintendent search may be decided upon at the board's next meeting Nov. 19 in the DPS central office at 511 Cleveland St.

AP/IB programs evaluated

The school's Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate programs were under scrutiny at a school board committee meeting Monday evening.

More Durham students passed the college-level AP tests in the 2008-2009 school year even though fewer tests were actually taken than in previous years. But the 2008-2009 overall passing rate, 57.3 percent, still lags behind national and state averages.

African-American students are further behind, passing 24.7 percent of all tests. One of the district's goals for the AP program is to get more African-American students taking and passing the exam.

The problem may not actually be race-specific, committee chair Kirsten Kainz noted. The problem may be school-specific as test scores in Hillside and Southern were far lower than the district's other high schools.

Board member Fredrick Davis criticized the availability of certain AP classes in schools. Without naming specific schools, Davis said some high schools offer AP courses even with low enrollment numbers while other schools with similar numbers do not offer the class.

Middle school Montessori named

The new middle school montessori at the Lakewood YMCA site has an official name: Lakewood Montessori Middle School.

Despite requests from parents to delay the vote and seek community input, the school board voted and approved the name at their Oct. 22 meeting.

Lakewood Montessori Middle School will open in fall 2010. Applications to the program are due in January.

DPS awards principal

Gwen Johnson, principal of Mangum Elementary School, was named Durham Public Schools' Principal of the Year Wednesday.Oct. 28

Johnson was chosen by a committee of former award recipients and DPS administrators. She will now represent the school system in the North Carolina Wachovia Principal of the Year competition.

Johnson has been principal at the school since 2004. Before that, she taught at Oak Grove Elementary. She has degrees from UNC, NCCU and East Carolina University.