49 being vetted for school post

The search firm of McPherson & Jacobson is vetting a list of 49 applicants for superintendent of the Clark County School District in preparation for announcing three finalists on Sept. 16.

The list includes applicants from 20 states, Canada and Mexico; 16 women, several minorities, 26 candidates with doctorates and at least one candidate with a military background.

"It's a very competitive field," said Tom Jacobson of McPherson & Jacobson, a search firm based in Omaha, Neb. "We have some real superstars. It's going to be very difficult to narrow down the list."

The public will learn more about the three finalists at a round of meetings and during interviews with the Clark County School Board planned for later this month. The search firm will not release the names of the other candidates.

With the exception of Jim Rogers, the former chancellor of the Nevada System of Higher Education who has publicly declared his interest in the superintendent's job, School Board President Terri Janison said she does not know who the candidates are.

"I've kept my nose clean through this entire process," said Janison, who has recused herself from many board votes because her husband, Kevin Janison, works as a weatherman at KSNV-TV, Channel 3, a station owned by Rogers.

At the request of community members and one possible applicant, Janison has forwarded names of possible candidates to the search firm, but Janison clarified that she did not make any recommendations and only acted as a conduit for information.

Through an information request to the district, the Review-Journal learned the names of six suggested candidates from School Board e-mails. One of the six, Superintendent Christopher Steinhauser of Long Beach Unified School District in California, said he is not interested in succeeding Superintendent Walt Rulffes.

Another possibility, Peter Gorman, superintendent of North Carolina's Charlotte-Mecklenburg district and a 2005 finalist for the Clark County post, has publicly said he is happy in his current job.

The remaining four suggested candidates are Maria Garcia-Sheets, an English and multi-disciplinary professor at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, Calif.; Stan Paz, former superintendent of Arizona's Tucson Unified School District and a vice president for publisher McGraw-Hill Education; Superintendent Michael Hanson of California's Fresno Unified School District; and Eric Smith, Florida Education Commissioner. It's not known whether any of them applied for the Clark County post.

Janison said she met Garcia-Sheets when the professor applied for a job with the Lincy Foundation-Brookings Institute at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Janison was on the interview team. Garcia-Sheets also expressed interest in the superintendent's job and Janison forwarded her name to the search firm.

According to e-mail, School Board member Larry Mason wanted to suggest Paz to the search firm. Mason could not be reached for comment.

Paz retired from the Tucson district in 2004 to go to work for McGraw-Hill. A year later, former Clark County Superintendent Carlos Garcia also joined McGraw-Hill.

The names of Gorman, Steinhauser, Hanson and Smith were recommended by former School Board member Bob Forbuss. Forbuss said he has never met any of his suggested nominees but friends from around the country have told him that "they're the superstars in education right now."

The e-mails obtained by the Review-Journal did not contain any local suggestions for superintendent.

If the School Board is not satisfied with the three finalists, the search firm will release new names for another round of interviews and community meetings. The board goal is make a selection by mid-October.

Stephen Augspurger, executive director of the Clark County Association of School Administrators and Professional-technical Employees, believes the search process in place is the wrong way to select a replacement for Rulffes. "Four guys from Nebraska" have been given authority to select the finalists, which should be the prerogative of the elected School Board, he said.

Augspurger also criticized the application that was used as a "cut and paste" job because it asks for a "superintendent endorsement from Nevada." Such a document doesn't exist, he said.

Janison said she has faith in the search firm. "They have a tough job, but I have complete confidence in them."

Contact reporter James Haug at jhaug @reviewjournal.com or 702-374-7917.