news-record.com

GREENSBORO - Guilford County Schools Chief of Staff Eric Becoats, who most recently served as the system's co-interim superintendent, is in St. Louis today as a finalist for the top job there.

The St. Louis school system announced the three finalists Monday.

Becoats joined Guilford County Schools in 2005. He shared interim superintendent duties with Chief Finance Officer Sharon Ozment for four months after former Superintendent Terry Grier left the post for the top job with the San Diego Unified School District.

Grier recruited Becoats after several national contacts recommended him.

Becoats was instrumental in creating a student assignment plan for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, but he resigned in 2004 after being accused of conducting personal business with district resources.

Contract terms prohibited Becoats from applying for the permanent position in Guilford. But he said in March it was his goal to become superintendent of an urban school system.

According to its Web site, St. Louis Public Schools consists of 85 schools and more than 28,000 students this school year.

A consulting firm approached him about the St. Louis job, and newly appointed Guilford County Schools Superintendent Maurice Green and the school board knew about the interview, Becoats wrote in an e-mail Monday.

"I am perfectly happy with my job in GCS and I fully support Mr. Mo Green as superintendent. I will continue to work with him and the Board to ensure that we continue to move the district forward," he wrote.

Becoats is competing against Kelvin Adams, the chief of staff for the Recovery School District of New Orleans, and Donnie Evans, the former superintendent of the Providence, R.I., schools.

Contact J. Brian Ewing at 373-7351 or brian.ewing@news-record.com