The leader of the state investigation gave the public a glimpse into his intervention plans Tuesday during the Selma City School work session.

Former Phenix City School Board superintendent Larry DiChiara spoke about his history as an administrator and goals for the Selma City School system as he leads the intervention team.

His introduction to the attendees of Tuesday’s meeting comes more than two weeks following the state’s decision to put superintendent Gerald Shirley and two other Selma City employees on administrative leave.

“The main thing that we did is we wanted the audience, as well as the board, to be reminded of the key areas that the state superintendent of education has us focusing on,” DiChiara said after the meeting.

Academic integrity, assessment  and accountability, safety and welfare of students, institutional control and governance, financial management and fiscal equity and human resource management were identified as focus areas during the Alabama State Board of Education’s two-year intervention in the Selma City School System.

DiChiara said State Superintendent of Education Dr. Tommy Bice has informed the intervention team he is willing to provide any resources needed to make the process a success.

After the work session, DiChiara discussed Bice’s decision to place Shirley, curriculum coordinator Wanda McCall and testing coordinator Mamie Solomon on indefinite, paid administrative leave.

DiChiara said he did not know the specifics of why Shirley, McCall and Solomon were placed on administrative leave, but he has a general idea about the situation.

A state decision to place an employee on administrative leave usually takes place anytime allegations suggest some wrong doing within the school, DiChiara said.

“And if it happens in someone’s department, for example, if there are allegations that there is some wide-spread cheating on testing, well typically you put the testing director on leave until you can investigate it and determine whether there was any wrong doing,” DiChiara said.

Selma City School board president Henry Hicks said he welcomes the state intervention and the additional leaders who come with it. He stressed the positive aspect of the situation after the meeting.

“I’m excited about [DiChiara] being here and I really want the board and the community to embrace him, because how many school system in the state of Alabama out of the 132 have the state at their disposal?” Hicks asked.

The process leading to the takeover began with mention of sexual misconduct within the school system followed by a state investigation last summer that revealed evidence of sexual misconduct, along with failure to enforce graduation requirement policies, a general disregard for instructional time and other violations.