The Little Rock School Board voted unanimously Tuesday to enter into contract negotiations with Jermall D. Wright to be the next superintendent of the 21,000-student school system.
The board voted 9-0 to pursue the hiring of Wright, 45, over the second finalist for the job, George "Eric" Thomas of Atlanta.
The board is seeking a replacement for current Superintendent Mike Poore, 60, who will retire at the end of this school year.
Wright has been since 2019 the state-appointed superintendent of the Mississippi Achievement District, which is a combination of two low-achieving Yazoo City and Humphreys County school systems in the Mississippi Delta.
From 2017-19, Wright was chief academic and accountability officer in the 23,000-student Birmingham, Ala., school system, and he held administrative roles in Philadelphia and Denver. He was a principal in Washington, D.C., and in his native Jacksonville, Fla.
Wright, who has three children ages 16 to 20, has a doctorate in leadership for educational equity from University of Colorado at Denver.
Little Rock School Board member Vicki Hatter made the specific motion to authorize Board President Greg Adams and the district's attorneys to conduct additional background checks and contract negotiations with Wright for the superintendent's job.
Board member Norma Johnson seconded the motion that was then approved with a unanimous voice vote in support.
The motion and vote came after the board had met in a closed, executive session for about two hours and 20 minutes.
Adams said the board intended to hold a special meeting May 3 to finalize a contract.