Jones tapped as Clark County schools superintendent

Colorado Education Commissioner Dwight Jones was the 6-1 pick of the Clark County School Board Wednesday to become the next leader of the nation's fifth-largest school district.

Jones, 48, was chosen over Dallas Independent School District Superintendent Michael Hinojosa, who offered experience in managing large, urban public school systems.

School Board members emphasized that they could not go wrong with either finalist, but board member Chris Garvey said she preferred Jones for his "integrity" and "vision."

School Board President Terri Janison liked Jones' sense of urgency. She said he has "a willingness to hold everyone accountable when he gets here. He's going to get the employees to come along with him. You're going to see a lot of action."

Because the board discussion was obviously favoring Jones, term-limited board member Larry Mason said, "I can count, so I'm going to support the majority here."

School Board member Linda Young, who represents a section of the Clark County School District that is 61 percent Hispanic and 21 percent black, cast the only dissenting vote.

Jones, if he agrees on contract terms with the board, would be the district's first black superintendent since Claude Perkins' 1978-1981 tenure .

Young said her vote did not reflect on Jones but was a protest of the rushed process. Jones was announced as a finalist two weeks ago. Young wanted more time to vet the finalists, comparing the partnership between a superintendent and a board to marriage. She was always told to wait a year before getting married, she said.

Board member Deanna Wright disagreed, saying the search process dates to March when Superintendent Walt Rulffes announced his intention to retire. The process has been going on for months, said Wright, who after the meeting noted that "anyone who has been pregnant would not say this has been rushed."

Public speakers also voiced concerns that Jones had not been as open and forthcoming with information as he had made himself out to be during his interview in Clark County last week.

Stephen Augspurger, executive director of the Clark County Association of School Administrators and Professional-technical Employees, asked the board to take more time because "too many flags" have been raised.

Augspurger cited an incomplete answer from Jones in response to an interview question from Young, who wanted to know whom the candidate had spoken to about the position. She also asked about his decision to raise the salaries of his staff in Colorado and reports that he had misused his public cell phone and bought expensive meals and office furniture on the state tab.

But board members felt that Jones had answered those issues to their satisfaction. Young said Jones told her that he hadn't disclosed all of the names of those he had spoken to about the job because he did not know whether he had their permission to identify them publicly.

Hannah Brown, a public speaker, said she suspected Jones was a done deal because she had heard "weeks ago" that Jones would be the board's pick.

Janison said she was "disheartened to hear that" because she did not know until the vote who was going to be selected.

Janison referred all questions about who had recommended Jones to Nebraska search firm MacPherson & Jacobson. A firm representative was unavailable for comment Wednesday night.

During the meeting, Tom Jacobson, owner of the search firm, presented the results of surveys of district employees, community stakeholders and members of the public without explaining how the scores had been weighted and calculated. On a scale with 5 presumably being the highest score, Jones's average rating was 3.93 while Hinojosa's was 3.26 across five different assessment categories. The five criteria established by the board were collaboration skills, experience in developing large budgets, a demonstrated focus on student achievement, communication and the development of good board relationships.

Jones' employment is still subject to negotiation, and a contract will have to be approved by the board, Janison said.

Jones, the education commissioner in Colorado since 2007, earns $223,860. The School Board has said it would offer a maximum of $270,000 for the next superintendent.

Jones has said his wife is employed as an education administrator. They have a 7-year-old child, who would enroll in a local public school. Jones also has older children in college.

At a community forum last week, a speaker asked Jones whether he would sacrifice some of his benefits or pay because of the district's financial crisis. Jones said it would not be fair to his family to make such a pledge without consulting them first.

Jones grew up on a wheat farm in western Kansas where there was only one other black family in the area. During his meeting with the School Board last week, he described a lonely childhood, saying he knew what it was like not to get invited to another child's birthday party.

Jones does not have a doctorate but received a master's degree in administration and supervision from Kansas State University in 1989. He earned a bachelor's degree in K-12 education from Fort Hays State University in Kansas in 1985.

Mason said Jones is a former athlete. Jones' staff at the Colorado Department of Education told him that Jones once tried out for the Dallas Cowboys.

Both Jones and Hinojosa are Cowboys fans. Neither man returned calls Wednesday from the Review-Journal.

Jones has worked in both the private and public sectors, supervising inner-city schools in Kansas, Missouri and Maryland for the for-profit Edison Learning Inc.

He has served as an assistant superintendent in Wichita. Before he became the education commissioner in Colorado, he was superintendent of a suburban school district near Colorado Springs, which enrolls 6,000 students. He won state recognition for narrowing the achievement gap among minority students in the Fountain-Fort Carson School District.

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