By Chelsea Vance | The Selma Times-Journal

The Dallas County Board of Education will name its next superintendent during a meeting Tuesday.

The board has decided to cancel an executive session that was scheduled for Friday.

Dallas County Board of Education President Carolyn Bates said the process should be open to the community. She said there will be no executive session after consulting with attorneys.

“We will go into our regular meeting and go over our regular agenda,” Bates said. “We are inviting the community to the meeting to give them a chance to meet our new superintendent. We are expecting supporters of candidates to be there.”

Board members will discuss the seven finalists and choose the system’s next leader.

The board will meet March 1 at the Dallas County Courthouse Annex. The meeting will start at 6 p.m.

“We will definitely name a superintendent March 1,” Bates said.

The final candidates include two already in the system. Hattie Shelton is Dallas County Schools Assistant Superintendent and Clarence Jackson is principal at Southside High School.

The other finalists are Dr. Vivian Relf, director of special education services for the Russell County Board of Education; Isaac Haynes, the former superintendent of the Canton, Mississippi Public School District; Walter Fenn, the assistant superintendent of Chilton County Schools; Sherene Carpenter, the coordinator of attendance at Birmingham City Schools; and Corey Jones, who works in administration for the Perry County School System.