A search for a new principal for Parker-Bennett-Curry Elementary School began Tuesday after a selection committee met to begin the first steps in the process.

“The selection of a principal is critical,” Bowling Green Independent School District Superintendent Gary Fields said at the meeting. “All the research you look at says that school success is truly most times measured by the effectiveness of the principal. You can have the best teachers in the world, but if you have an ineffective principal the school’s not going to be as successful as it could be.”

As a member of the committee, Fields has one of six votes in the decision. The other five members include two parents and three teachers.

The position became available at Parker-Bennett-Curry after the previous principal, Cheri Smith, resigned April 21 and took a job as principal of Owensboro Middle School.

Leslie McCoy, the district’s director of communications, told the Daily News that Smith had been working throughout the 2015-16 school year in Russellville Independent Schools while completing the Minority Superintendent Program. The program is for minority school administrators seeking superintendent certification.

Delvagus Jackson has been principal for the 2015-16 year on an interim basis, and McCoy said he could apply for the job.

During the meeting at the school, committee members reviewed the hiring process and made some initial decisions. Members reviewed the best practices for the hiring process. The lengthy process includes steps like recruiting candidates, developing criteria they should meet and then interviewing and evaluating them in sessions closed to the public.

It all culminates in the selection of a principal. Fields said he hopes the committee can name a new principal no later than May 27.

“That’s an aggressive timeline,” he said. “But at the same time with the school year ending … it would be nice to do that before we get into June.”

As for the next step in the process, the committee set a date for a three-hour training session May 11. Committee members will learn how to review applications and conduct interviews along with other hiring procedures. That meeting is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. at the school and is open to the public. Ken May, the district’s personnel director, was chosen to lead the training.

In another decision, the committee opted to survey parents, students, staff and other community members later this week. Paper surveys designed to see what respondents want from a new principal will be sent home with students as early as Thursday. The goal is to have all survey data ready to use by next Wednesday.

“We want truly meaningful feedback,” Fields said of the surveys.

— Follow education reporter Aaron Mudd on Twitter @aaron_muddbgdn or visit bgdailynews.com.