SELMA — In a surprise move, the Selma City School Board has unanimously hired Don Jefferson as permanent superintendent of the school system.

Jefferson was absent from the meeting during the vote, but returned at the request of the board after his selection. He thanked the school board for the appointment.

“We have a lot of work to do,” Jefferson said. “We have a lot of work to do.”

The move came just minutes into a special-called school board meeting Monday night to discuss how board members would handle interviewing and selecting a superintendent from five candidates recommended by hired consultants. The school board had until Nov. 1 to accomplish the task.

School board member Holland Powell said the edge in the selection process should go to the individual from Selma. He suggested the board did not have the money or the time to bring in four other candidates and consider them.

“Give the local person a little more of a chance,” Powell said.

Jefferson began the meeting on the stage with the board in Pickard Auditorium at School of Discovery, but at the request of board president Henry Hicks Sr., Jefferson left the meeting.

“I asked him to leave because I knew we would be discussing this,” Hicks explained. “I just wanted to make sure the process is clean.”

Board attorney Katy Campbell said selection without interviewing any of the candidates is legal. Under a state law that became effective in March, school systems must advertise for the vacancy and select someone to fill the post within 120 days after it becomes vacant.

While the selection of the superintendent came easy, the determination of his salary did not.

Jefferson said he would take the same payment package given to his predecessor, Austin Obasohan, which would mean, among other things, a $118,000 per-year base salary and $9, 600 in-system travel allowance annually.

Powell suggested the school board cut the travel allowance to what the Internal Revenue Service allows, which is 50 cents a mile for business miles in 2010, according to the website www.irs.gov.

“If you take $9,600, that’s about $800 a month,” Powell said. “You can rent a Mercedes Benz for $800 a month.”

The advertisement under which the five applicants, including Jefferson, applied gave a salary range of $95,000 to $118,500. As interim superintendent, Jefferson makes $118,500 prorated for the year. Jefferson was hired as interim superintendent in June shortly after Obasohan resigned to take a similar post in North Carolina.

Powell suggested a three-year contract with an eight-month probation. Under that plan, Jefferson would have begun with $116,000 plus $5,000 travel less proration, whatever that might be at the time. Working from that, the board would increase the salary 6 percent each year based on the school systems percentage advancement over the annual yearly progress minimums.

Powell said for example, for the first eight months, Jefferson would earn $114,500; the following year $121,500 and the next year $128,000.

Other school members, with the exception of Frank Chestnut Jr. balked at the suggested, saying it is only fair Jefferson receive the same salary as Obasohan.

Chestnut said he’s concerned about the $1 million note the system will have to pay to construct a new school and proration. In addition, Chestnut said the contract contains no demands to raise the systems annual yearly progress or address “other parameters.”

After the meeting, Powell said, “I have to wonder why the salary of the previous superintendent was adequate and not the remainder of his contract.  Why is this not up for public discussion and what changes will be made?  While I will certainly support Dr. Jefferson in his new position, I believe that he should accept the entire contract not just those parts that are excessive in this period of tight budgetary constraints.  Every dollar we can find for a student is a precious commodity.”

Jefferson said if the school system suffered dire financial straits, he would work without a salary.

A majority of school board members said they would wait until another meeting to discuss other matters in Jefferson’s contract. A meeting date was not set.