Dr. Samantha Ingram, Mobile County Public School System Deputy Superintendent for Academic Affairs, is in contract negotiations to become the next superintendent for the Fairfield County South Carolina School District, Lagniappe has learned. A spokesman for the Fairfield school district confirmed May 23 that Ingram is "in contract discussions" with the district. Mobile County School Superintendent Dr. Harold Dodge said Wednesday afternoon Ingram had told him that morning she was offered the job. The local newspaper in Fairfield County, the Herald Independent has also reported that she is being considered for the superintendent’s job. According to that story, the district’s board of trustees voted unanimously May 18 to offer the position to Ingram "under certain contractual conditions." The Herald Independent story did not elaborate on what those conditions might be. If hired, Ingram is expected to be on the job by mid-July and would replace retiring Superintendent Dr. Clarence Willie. Attempts to reach Ingram prior to publication were unsuccessful. Ingram’s departure would mean the Mobile School System will have to replace its top two administrators in the next six months. Dodge’s contract was not renewed and his replacement is currently being sought. Ingram has garnered praise from Dodge in her current position, but has also had her name in the news for less flattering reasons in recent months. A disclosure earlier this year that she had exchanged around 200 phone calls with impeached school board member David Thomas, despite a judge’s order that he avoid contact with school officials, was the subject of several local news stories. Ingram was the only person to testify in Thomas’ behalf during his impeachment trial. Ingram’s duties with the school system have included overseeing the system’s transformation schools, in which the system’s five lowest-performing schools are restructured. "I told at least two of their school board members that she did some truly innovative things," Dodge said of Ingram Wednesday afternoon. "One asked about some bad press and I said I never saw anything that would indicate she had some personal gain. Another asked me about the phone calls, but among our staff, there was some confusion about that." When Dodge’s departure became imminent, many assumed Ingram might be his replacement, but school board members quickly moved to quell that rumor. She was a finalist last year for the superintendent’s job in Birmingham and has been mentioned in other searches. Ingram has also faced scrutiny for the school system’s solicitation of money from vendors doing business with the system. In particular, a memo in which she wrote about employees rallying "financial support from vendors, who are currently affiliated with the Mobile County School System" brought scrutiny. Ingram has moved up in the school system, coming from a teaching position at Blount High School in 2000 to a central office position in the career-technical division, and following that in 2001 with an interim director position. She was eventually elevated to an assistant superintendent position. Ingram’s connection with the high-profile stories involving phone calls to Thomas and the solicitation of vendors let her to reportedly hire attorney Billy Kimbrough.