NATCHEZ – With time running out on his contract with the Natchez-Adams School District, Superintendent Dr. Carl Davis is keeping an eye out for job opportunities.

&uot;I’ve got to make sure that if my contract is not extended I have fair opportunity and time to find another job,&uot; Davis said.

This month he inquired into a job as the superintendent of the East Baton Rouge (La.) Parish School District.

He also has inquired into four or five other positions out of state, he said.

&uot;I figure there’ll be a job out there for Carl Davis some place, but I’ve got to at least start testing those waters again,&uot; Davis said.

The Natchez-Adams School Board selected him as its superintended in January 1999. His contract ends June 30, 2002.

The school board has yet to inform Davis if they plan to renew his contract past that deadline.

Under the stipulations of the contract, they must make a decision on or before Feb. 1, or his contract is extended for an additional year.

But with the future of his contract undecided, Davis said he had to use this time to look for other jobs.

&uot;If I don’t start looking before that I think that’s poor planning on my part and Carl is not going to be guilty of poor planning,&uot; he said.

This includes looking for other superintendent positions, considering other job possibilities or thinking about retirement.

Davis, who has 27 years in education in Mississippi, said he might want to go ahead and retire.

&uot;The good Lord has blessed me to get to this point in life where I can get a retirement that I could live on,&uot; he said.

School board members Don Marion and Board President Kenneth Taylor said the board plans to discuss Davis’ contract just at their January meeting just prior to the February deadline.

&uot;To be honest with you, that’s when it’s normally done in my past experience,&uot; Marion said.

When the board members voted not to renew Dr. Willie Hoskin’s contract in 1998, that decision also took place in January. His contract also expired on June 30.

Taylor, who is the president of the board, understood why Davis was inquiring into other jobs because the unknown about his contract.

&uot;I guess that’s what any prudent person would do,&uot; he said.

Currently the board has been working on many other projects, and that might be one reason Davis’ contract has yet to be decided, Taylor said.

And putting off the decision as long as possible might enable the board more time to consider the decision, he said.

&uot;As far as I know (Davis) wants to stay in Natchez, and I support his desire to stay,&uot; Taylor said.