Nearly a year after Superintendent Sydney Cousin announced he would retire from the Howard County Public School System in summer 2012, the Board of Education will take a formal vote on his successor.

The school system announced March 27 that it had offered the job to Renee Foose, deputy superintendent of Baltimore County schools.

On April 7, school board member Allen Dyer released a letter from Maryland's superintendent, Bernard Sadusky, approving the contract for Foose.

Her term will last from July 1, 2012, to June 30, 2016, according to Sadusky's letter.

Dyer, who lost his chance at re-election as a result of the April 3 primary, said that as of Saturday he has not been privy to the details of the contract.

"The whole board will review the [contract] draft before it gets voted on," said Sandra French, chair of the Howard County Board of Education, in a message to Patch.

French said the board will vote on Foose officially during its April 12 meeting.

"I'm hoping we will be able to approve it then but if there are some unresolved issues then we will not vote on it until April 26," said French.

According to the Maryland Association of Boards of Education, the only part of the search for a superintendent that must be made public is the final vote on the candidate for the job.