Superintendent Mike Looney said he had been contacted by Ray & Associates, an executive search firm handling the superintendent search for Williamson County, and was told that two board members would be arriving in Butler County on Thursday.

Looney said he was also told another board member would be conducting reference checks via telephone.

Looney remains a candidate to lead the Williamson County School District in Tennessee, but school officials voted on Monday night to make an on-site visit to Butler County.

“I’m not sure what the board members itinerary will be or how involved I will be in that process,” said Looney. “It’s exciting news that I’m still under consideration, but at the same time we’re still having school in Butler County and still working to get this school year off to a great start.”

Looney said he believed the Williamson County board’s decision to visit Butler County schools was a “prudent choice.”

“I applaud them for doing it,” he said. “It shows they are committed to finding the right person for the job.”

The Tennessean reported that Looney was the first choice in what was referred to as a “non-binding vote” taken by Williamson County board members on Monday night.

The Williamson County Board of Education will visit Butler County as well as the location of another candidate, Dennis Dearden, in Arizona, before making its decision, according to Carol Birdsong, communications director for the Williamson County School District.

A third candidate, Dr. Barry Carroll, Superintendent of Limestone County Schools, was eliminated from consideration by the board on Monday, said Birdsong.

Dearden is the former superintendent of the Marana Unified School District near Tucson, Arizona and is currently employed with a consulting firm that works with superintendents across the nation.

The board will next meet on Sept. 2 at 8 p.m. to select its new Director of Schools and begin contract negotiations, said Birdsong.