What would you like to see in the next Elkin City Schools superintendent?

That was the question posed by the school board to a low turn-out crowd Tuesday night. An effort to gauge the communities' wishes for a new superintendent led to a one-on-one conversation with the only two citizens present.

The meeting was organized by the board based on interest voiced by community members who were unable to attend previous mid-day meetings.

The school system has been looking for a replacement for Barry Shepherd over the past three months. With a pool of only seven applicants so far, the board decided to extend the application deadline until June 6 in hopes of widening their selection.

At least a dozen applications have been requested by interested people despite the fact that so few have been submitted.

"If we get those applications back, we'd have enough to set interviews," School Board Chairman Stewart Roten said Tuesday. "Seven applications just aren't a large enough pool to choose from."

Ted Long, attending with his wife Trish, raised issues of the particular uniqueness to the Elkin City School system, saying that the characteristics that made it special were fading with each new superintendent. Long was critical of the central office and younger personnel hired for the position in recent years.

"The past two or three young guys we've hired have been highly educated and qualified," Long said. "But when you get young folks they are going to be looking up the line to the next job. We need someone who cares enough about the schools to want to stay."

Long brought "Skinny" Carpenter up as a model for the new superintendent, "someone with their door always open, who cares about the community and knows everyone in this small town."

Vice Chairman Larry Wagoner agreed with the Skinny Carpenter description, adding that he was hired by Carpenter back when he was a teacher.

Board member Jim Westbrook was concerned about Long's perception of the central office and asked him to elaborate on what he called Long's sweeping inditement.

"It's just my perceptions," Long said, "but it seems the priorities here are to get what you can get done, doing the least you can do."

He likened central office to a small government bureaucracy that he said was overstaffed and ineffectual.

Wagoner mentioned his personal desire to see someone who would represent the east end of Elkin as well as State Road and other districts. One of six students come to Elkin City Schools from outside the district, interested in what the school system has to offer.

"I've seen some mistakes made in a lot of different areas," Wagoner said. "Hopefully with extending the deadline we will find someone in a larger pool that is perfect for our unique area, not just a figure head, but someone who will go out into the community."

Wagoner said the reason for extending the open application was "because we didn't have that perfect person."

"All were quality applications," Roten said. "But we want to be able to make good comparisons." Anyone who applies during the extended application deadline will be added to the other applications to be looked over again with fresh consideration.

Several other meetings that have been held at the schools prior to Tuesday nights public forum have pooled the insight of teachers, staff and parents able to attend. Roten, said that many of the same concerns were heard from these discussions.

"Previous feedback indicated that people were interested in finding someone with a broad vision for the system as a hole," Roten said. "Other qualities were a person who could fight against school mergers, continue to uphold high test scores, move schools into the 21st century and be a representative for all."

Roten added that teachers are generally concerned with someone who can find more funding for class interests and additional teachers.

The superintendent's duties, as outlined by Roten, include someone who communicates for the central office, servicing schools, appointing principles, budgeting and working with groups bigger than the school system such as commissioners, politics and Raleigh representatives.

At the end of the Tuesday night meeting Roten said that the board would still like to hear back from people and invite people to contact them by phone, email or Web site about qualities the position should uphold.