Dallas County Superintendent of Schools Don Willingham will retire at the end of the school year and the search for his replacement is already underway.

The school system posted the superintendent job listing on its website Friday, beginning a search that will last just over a month. The final day to apply is Friday, Jan. 29 at 4:30 p.m.

“We are looking for a candidate that has a knowledge of finance and has the skills to lead the school system with the new state and federal rules on curriculum,” said Dallas County Board of Education President Carolyn Bates. “We are also looking for a superintendent that has the ability to work with the present staff.”

Bates said she is hoping to name a superintendent around March so that Willingham can help advise his replacement to make the transition easier. Bates said board attorney Christmas Green-Williams will accept the applications and bring them to the board.

The board will then go through the applications and resumes and select the top five candidates, which will be announced publicly. From there, the board will hold a public question and answer session where those five candidates will be scored by their responses.

Willingham has worked with the Dallas County School System since 1978. He started as an educator before moving into administration.

“About every decade, I had something different to do. I never got burned out and never got sick of what I was doing,” Willingham said. “It seemed like every couple of years my duties changed some.”

In July 2013, Willingham was named interim superintendent after Dr. Fannie McKenzie stepped down. A short time later, the school board announced the interim tag would be removed.

Willingham signed a one-year contract in June, so that he could work on a year-to-year basis. He knew early on this school year that it would be his last.

He will stick around until June, which is when his current contract runs out.

“I still enjoy the job but I do realize at some point you want to move on and enjoy some other parts of life,” Willingham said. “This is probably a good time for that, but as far as going to work today or going to work in March or April, I still look forward to it.”

During his tenure as superintendent, Willingham said he’s most proud of improved graduation rates and that the school system is more financially stable. Over the last few years, graduation rates have risen from 73 percent into the 90 percentile.

The system also now has more than $1 million in reserve. When Willingham first took the job, he said Dallas County Schools had about $300,000 in reserve.

With six months of work still ahead of him, Willingham isn’t entirely sure what’s next for him.

“I don’t have a game plan,” Willingham said. “I like walking and jogging, I like fishing and golfing. I like fixing things, but I do those things now. I guess I’ll be doing it a little more. I don’t have a game plan, but something will hit me.”

Bates said after Willingham’s success coming up through the system, the board will take a look at internal candidates.

“We are looking sort of for the same type of person,” Bates said. “The same type of candidate that has that type of experience. Naturally if you’ve been an educator in the school system, you are very familiar with what the curriculum entails.”

The listed qualifications for the job are a master’s degree from an accredited four-year college or university with Alabama Superintendent certification and three years of educational experience as a principal, supervisor or superintendent during the last five years.

Any qualified candidate will also have five years of public school experience, preferably at the elementary and secondary levels combined.

The salary range listed is $110,000 to $130,000, but it is negotiable.

Applications may be mailed to Christmas Green-Williams at P.O. Box 1025 Selma, AL 36702-1025.