District wary of search pitfalls

Choosing a superintendent is a school board's weightiest responsibility, one made all the more difficult by applicants who might misrepresent themselves or simply turn out to be a bad fit for the job.

In 2007, Barbara Erwin resigned days before she was to take over as Kentucky education commissioner amid questions about her résumé, which included an award she had not won and a presentation she had not made, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal.

In 1999, West Virginia candidate Henry Marockie withdrew as a finalist for the Clark County School District's top job after Clark County School Board members said he misrepresented the salary and job perks he received as a state superintendent, according to Review-Journal reports.

Both candidates rose to the top of short finalist lists with the help of search firms that unsuccessfully sought to coordinate the Clark County School Board's new quest to find a successor for Superintendent Walt Rulffes, who plans to retire Aug. 31.

Iowa-based Ray and Associates drew criticism in Kentucky. Critics said the firm improperly vetted Erwin for the position, which is the equivalent of state superintendent.

The Illinois-based firm of Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates had similar problems here.

This time, Clark County School Board members have hired the Nebraska-based search firm of McPherson & Jacobson. Its officials assured board members that candidates are thoroughly vetted before being publicly announced.

"We have not had any major blowups as a firm," consultant Steve Joel told the School Board.

Joel said the firm realizes it "can't make a mistake" when presenting a final slate of candidates. That is why the firm always conducts "comprehensive" background checks on applicants.

"One of the last things we ask a candidate is if there's anything in your background, anything at all, that would be an embarrassment to you or the Clark County School District," Joel said.

"You would be amazed at what that yields, everything from parking tickets to accused felonies," Joel said. "But that gives us the ability to vet even deeper."

If a candidate has messy personal issues, he or she might be asked to resolve them before advancing as a finalist, Joel said.

Firm owner Tom Jacobson said his staff would make the necessary criminal checks and credit ratings checks and interview sources about whether a candidate would be a good fit for the district.

School Board member Larry Mason said he expects a thorough vetting. The cost of the search and the search firm is estimated at about $50,000.

"They have to do something more than Google," Mason said. "It has to be a very clean background search, it has to be immaculate. If they do their job, there should not be any problem."

Mason was a board member during the failed search that produced Marockie. The 1999 search by Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates also included Joseph Redden, a retired Air Force three-star general, who withdrew citing family obligations. Redden was later hired by Cobb County schools in Georgia. He resigned from that position in 2005 after an audit found that Redden and a top deputy had intervened improperly in the award of a multimillion-dollar contract for laptop computers, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Clark County's 1999 search also included James Fleming, who was then superintendent of the Capistrano Unified School District in California. In 2007, Fleming was indicted on charges involving the misappropriation of public funds to create an "enemies list," making him the highest-ranking school official ever indicted in Orange County, according to the Orange County Register.

Some of the charges against him have been dropped by prosecutors. Fleming is seeking a dismissal of the remaining charges, according to the Orange County Register .

Clark County School Board President Terri Janison said she is not worried by the prospect of another public embarrassment.

"We just have to be professional and do our jobs," she said.

The board is scheduled to meet with McPherson & Jacobson today to discuss how the superintendent search will be conducted. District officials will report the results of a survey of what the public expects in a new superintendent.

McPherson & Jacobson representatives plan to meet in July with "stakeholder" groups to refine what the expectations are for the next superintendent. Janison said she wants the firm to meet with the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, parents and community groups.

Janison said the board will not appoint a special committee of community representatives to screen the candidates as it has done in past searches.

Jacobson acknowledged his firm has never worked for a district as large and urban as Clark County, which is the fifth-largest public school system in the nation. Jacobson said he has contacts in professional associations that could yield some good nominees.

Jacobson promised his firm will be "open and transparent with everybody."

In 2008, his firm was criticized by a school board in St. John the Baptist Parish, a suburb of New Orleans, for not communicating with the board during the search.

One board member said the district could have saved $30,000 by not hiring McPherson & Jacobson, according to the local newspaper, L'Observateur.

Gerald Keller, then chairman of the St. John school board, said some members were unhappy because their choices were not added to the list of candidates.

But Keller said he was "very pleased" with the firm's performance.

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