School board hopes to find new superintendent before elections

The Clark County School Board would like to interview candidates for the next superintendent by October and have the new superintendent begin work Dec. 1, according to its timeline for private contractors interested in conducting the candidate search.

"It's an aggressive schedule," School Board President Terri Janison acknowledged Monday, but explained that she does not want to hire an interim superintendent for the sake of "continuity and consistency."

She wants to minimize the change between one superintendent and the next.

During the superintendent search in 2005, the school district was led by an interim team of Deputy Superintendent for Instruction Augustin Orci and Deputy Superintendent for Finance Walt Rulffes. Rulffes got the job in 2006 .

Rulffes has announced he is not renewing his contract when it ends Aug. 30, but the School Board has expressed interest in keeping him on the job until his successor is found.

Under the proposed timeline, the School Board would like to have the candidate search wrapped up before the November elections, in which three of the seven seats on the School Board will be determined.

Michael Leslie, a candidate for District F who is challenging School Board incumbent Carolyn Edwards, said he does not understand the rush and said the appointment should not be made until at least January when the new members take office.

James Brooks, a candidate for School Board District G, said, "This is definitely a power play by the board" to get its own candidate.

Lorraine Alderman, a candidate for School Board District D, said, "I still like the idea of going with Jim Rogers and doing it right."

Rogers, the former chancellor of the Nevada System of Higher Education, has volunteered to do the job for free until a permanent successor is found.

While not wanting to sound "rude," Janison said the School Board must lead the superintendent search for the benefit of schoolchildren and district employees and not for the sake of future School Board members.

Janison encouraged board candidates to get involved in the search process by going to community forums and board meetings.

Alderman and Leslie also were concerned about the cost of hiring a consultant for the search. Fees are to be determined through the bidding process. The School Board is scheduled to approve a request for proposals from contractors on Thursday.

If the consultant costs $100,000, "it's a lot of money to spend when you're laying off teachers," Leslie said.

The district is facing a budget shortfall of $140 million because of state funding cuts and the declining revenue from property taxes. The district has announced cutting 540 teaching positions in grades 1 through 3 because of class size increases, but as many as 1,077 district employees could lose their jobs.

Janison acknowledged that a consultant would not be cheap, but said "it's the cost of doing business."

The School Board hopes to hire a head hunter by June.