In an effort to communicate the next steps of the Metro Nashville Public School Board’s superintendent search, board member Will Pinkston, along with Mayor Megan Barry, will host a telephone town hall next week to discuss the search.

The telephone town hall will take place 6:30 pm, March 15, and Pinkston slated the 45-minute discussion as a way to also field questions from the community.

“I think we have a pretty profound moment in time where the mayor, the council and the school board are rowing in the same direction,” Pinkston said. “It’s something that hasn’t happened in nearly a decade.”

The Metro Schools board is in its second search to find a replacement for former Director of Schools Jesse Register. The board offered Williamson County Schools Director Mike Looney a contact in July, but he turned down the job.

The second search has had a notably different feel than the last, with the school board asking the community to help assist.

Barry’s office and the Nashville Public Education Foundation led the board’s task force committee, which looked at ways to guide the search. The board recently asked the education foundation to contract and foot the bill for recruitment firm Jim Huge and Associates.

Mayor Barry agreed to participate because she believes that the director of schools is the most critical hire for the future success of Nashville, according to Sean Braisted, Barry spokesman.

“[She] is happy to partner with school board members to help communicate that process to the teachers, parents, students and residents of Nashville who may be interested to learn more or want to give feedback about the process,” he said.

The participation in the town hall isn’t an endorsement of Pinkston in his reelection bid against challenger Jackson Miller, Braisted said.

Barry also doesn’t have any plans to endorse in any school board races. To participate in the town hall, register online at .