The Pontiac school board will keep Interim Superintendent Kimberly Leverette and remains undecided on when a final decision will be made on a permanent replacement.

At a meeting early this week, the board was given the option of naming Leverette, who has been interim superintendent since January 2024, as the permanent replacement for Kelley Williams.

Williams was placed on leave in January 2024. Per the terms of a separation agreement, she will remain in the district as Superintendent Emeritus until June 30.

“In this role she is working directly with Dr. Leverette and the administration, sharing her expertise, experience, and historical knowledge of the district to ensure a seamless transition as she moves into her retirement from the district,” the district said in a recent statement.

As for a decision on how to choose a permanent superintendent, the board could not come to a consensus or set a timeline for a final vote.

“I think at our next closed session we can have a discussion as to how we want to move forward and if we want to open this position up (for outside interviews) and set our timeline from there,” said President Anisha Hannah. “The end of the school year is June 30 and I think it would behoove us to have these things in place for the next calendar year which begins on July 1, so I think we should have it on our next agenda.”

One step that must be taken first is a formal evaluation of Leverette by the board, which has not done one since she took over.

Trustees Tanisha Miller and Jennifer Dooley pointed out that even as an interim superintendent, Leverette is required to be evaluated according to state law.

“A superintendent evaluation should have occurred six months ago and we run the potential of not following rules and regulations, so we possibly need to get an evaluation in determining which way we want to move forward as a board,” said Dooley.

“In July of last year she should have had an evaluation according to Michigan law,” said Miller.

“This thing has been lingering, not only with Dr. Leverette, but we have other interims that are in the district that we need to take care of … ,” said Trustee G. Kevin Gross.

The interim positions include Jaronique Devezin, principal at the Kennedy School, and Marvin Beasley, director of facilities, who have been in their roles since January 2024.

Ashley Smith, assistant superintendent, has been in her position since October 2024.

According to the district, all of the interim positions must remain that way until April.