By Karen Gutierrez
The Cincinnati Enquirer

NEWPORT - In a surprise move, the Newport School Board is poised to hire as its new superintendent an 11th hour candidate: former Cincinnati schools chief Michael Brandt.

Brandt, the superintendent-in-residence at Xavier University, served as a consultant to the district in its six-month search for a new leader. Two finalists emerged, but board members couldn't agree. So late last week, Chairman Tete Turner Jr. approached Brandt.

"It seemed to me this might be a good opportunity to get back in the hunt a little bit," said Brandt, 57, who retired from the Cincinnati school system in 1998 after battling an infection linked to surgery.

On one day's notice to the media, the Newport board met with Brandt on Saturday morning at the Bob Evans restaurant in Newport. No vote was taken, but Brandt agreed to submit a proposed contract. Turner hopes to name him superintendent at a formal meeting sometime this week.

Bonita Burns, a former Owen County superintendent who retired in 1997, had been one of the two finalists for Newport's job. The other was James Francis, superintendent of the Hazard school district.

To help with its search, Newport had hired both Brandt and his supervisor at Xavier, James Booth, for $3,500 each.

Their job was to lead the board in a discussion of its needs, place advertisements and collect and screen applications.

The screening committee recommended eight names to the board. The board interviewed those candidates as well as three more from the original pool. It couldn't agree on a No. 1.

Brandt declined to comment on salary negotiations with Newport. When he left the Cincinnati system, he was earning $136,000 plus benefits, he said. The average superintendents' salary in Northern Kentucky is about $95,000.

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E-mail kgutierrez@enquirer.com