BATON ROUGE - In January, the East Baton Rouge school board placed Adam Smith as the interim superintendent. At the time of Smith's appointment, parents and teacher rallied behind the EBR school veteran.

Now the clock is ticking for the school board to decide on a new leader. 

"We are far from a final decision," School Board President Carla Powell-Lewis said.

Former Superintendent Dr. Sito Narcisse left the school board in January after a decision in December to not renew his contract or grant him a raise. Now a new leader is in charge. Interim Superintendent Adam Smith was appointed by the board on January 23.

Powell-Lewis says there are still plenty of steps to take before a choice is made. 

"We need to hear from about three different community engagement meetings," she said. "That will encompass different regional, geographic regions of our district. We also hope to hear from our business leaders that lead our community and then also community organizations that are involved in our school setting."

The board has until July 23 to make a final decision on whether to appoint Smith or bring in someone new. Powell-Lewis says despite community support for Smith, the board is prepared to interview outside candidates allowing others to apply.

"What I'll say is Superintendent Smith is a well liked, loved person inside of our community, on of which is because he's been a part of our system for so long, but also because he's people centered," School Board member Dadrius Lanus said.

In previous school board meetings, parents and teachers who worked with Smith in his 27 years with East Baton Rouge Schools insist he's the man for the job. 

"At the end of the day this is about our children," Powell-Lewis said. "This is about our children continuing to live their lives in the Baton Rouge area. So we want to make sure to get this right."

For months, school board members have worried about a looming budget shortfall. If chosen to take over, that responsibility would fall on Smith. 

"I feel as though he's taken the time to really comb through every aspect of our district to see how much of a deficit we will be in," Powell-Lewis said. "Yes the rumor mill says 70-million dollars worth of a deficit. I'm not sure if that's the case. He hasn't presented that number to us yet."