Superintendent finalist’s status unclear after Texas contract offer

The status of one of two remaining finalists for the position of Clark County School District superintendent was thrown into question Thursday after his Texas school board approved the offer of a three-year contract extension.

Dallas Independent School District Superintendent Michael Hinojosa left Las Vegas on Thursday after interviewing with the Clark County School Board. He could not be reached for comment about how the Dallas offer will affect his candidacy here.

School Board President Terri Janison said she hopes that Hinojosa will delay making any decision until the Clark County board meets Wednesday to decide whether he or Colorado Education Commissioner Dwight Jones will succeed retiring Superintendent Walt Rulffes.

A third finalist identified by the Nebraska-based search firm of McPherson & Jacobson, Florida's Lee County School District Superintendent James Browder, already has withdrawn from contention to take a job at Florida's Edison State College.

If the board fails to make a choice Wednesday, it has the option of asking the search firm to produce three more finalists. School Board member Sheila Moulton is concerned that Hinojosa or Jones might drop out of the running if the board delays making a decision.

The Dallas board voted 5-4 to give Hinojosa a three-year extension to 2015. They did not increase his $328,000 annual salary. The Dallas Morning News quoted Dallas School Board member Eric Cowan as predicting that Hinojosa would take the Clark County job if it is offered to him.

The Clark County School Board is offering an annual superintendent's salary of $270,000, but Hinojosa would be able to draw his Texas pension, estimated at $200,000, on top of that.

The 54-year-old Hinojosa said while in Las Vegas that he wants to work until he is 60.

Jones, 48, said officials in Colorado might be offering him incentives to stay. He earns $223,680 a year.

Clark County board members Deanna Wright and Linda Young plan to travel to Colorado and Texas to vet the finalists, who established themselves during interviews Thursday as two distinct personalities.

Hinojosa used his folksy sense of humor to woo Clark County board members while Jones professed "Midwestern values" and earnestly spoke of the challenges he has faced in life.

Hinojosa joked that he was "fat, dumb and happy" in Texas until he got a call asking him to apply for a job as Clark County superintendent, he said.

Jones spoke of the loneliness of growing up on a wheat farm in western Kansas where there was only one other black family. As a former superintendent and as the Colorado education commissioner, Jones has dedicated himself to helping the children of military personnel killed in war and taken his top staffers on prison tours to show them what is at stake if children do not learn.

Both candidates said they are intrigued by the possibilities of taking over the nation's fifth-largest school district with 309,000 students.

In their interviews with the board, the finalists described how they would handle some of the district's biggest challenges, including budgeting woes. Clark County had to plan for $140 million in funding reductions in 2010-11.

Because the district is expecting to make additional cuts in 2011, Jones said he would get a financial analysis of the district to identify potential savings.

A financial crisis is always a good time to identify priorities and cut unneeded programs, he said. Jones said that in his educational career, he has been careful to tell teachers whose jobs are grant-funded that those positions will end when the funding is gone.

Hinojosa also described himself as a careful financial planner. "If you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there," he said.

The superintendent said he has learned many lessons from a $59 million shortfall in 2008 that required massive layoffs in Dallas. Hinojosa said he delegated too much authority to a chief financial officer who did not understand school funding.

He since has become better at "crunching the numbers."

Hinojosa said his experience as both a civics teacher and a basketball referee have given him the knowledge and people skills necessary for lobbying the Texas Legislature. Hinojosa said he has led coalitions of urban and fast-growing school districts in efforts to increase state education funding.

When resources are tight, Hinojosa said, it makes more sense "to play defense" and protect current levels of funding. He said it's much "easier to kill a bill" than to get one passed.

In touting his legislative experience, Jones said he is responsible for estimating the financial effect of educational bills in the Colorado Legislature. He said he works toward bipartisan resolutions because he answers to a state Board of Education that has four Republicans and three Democrats.

Hinojosa, as head of the nation's 14th-largest district, has never had to deal with union contracts. In contrast, the Clark County district negotiates with four different employee unions that represent teachers, administrators, school police and support staff.

As a former assistant superintendent and principal in Kansas' Wichita School District, Jones said he has experience in labor talks.

He stressed the need for trust and transparency in labor negotiations because people always assume there's some "pocket of money somewhere" for salaries.

Both Jones and Hinojosa said they have been successful in getting private funding from foundations and businesses to pay for special programs and services.

Hinojosa said politicians in Dallas have told him "that we can't be successful unless the school district is successful."

In education, Hinojosa said people often "want a simple answer to a complex problem." But when it comes to improving the graduation rate, he said there is "no silver bullet." It requires multiple strategies.

He said he believes in closely tracking student performance. If a high school freshman fails two classes, there is a 40 percent chance that student will drop out, Hinojosa said.

Jones praised Clark County's career and technical academies as a good way to keep students interested in staying in school.

Hinojosa said he is not afraid to shine a light on shortcomings, such as low student achievement among minority groups.

A native of Mexico who became a U.S. citizen, Hinojosa is bilingual. He believes in dual-language programs in which English speakers learn Spanish alongside Spanish speakers who need to improve their English.

Students want to be "biliterate," or fluent in both languages, Hinojosa said.

About 56,000 students, 18 percent of the Clark County School District's enrollment, are limited English speakers.

School Board member Larry Mason twice asked Jones for his views on helping students with limited English skills because he wasn't satisfied with the candidate's response.

Jones said he tells Colorado school districts to use research-based strategies, but he did not declare himself an advocate of bilingual education.

Jones also has said he is not "a program guy." Instead, he believes quality teachers make the difference in education.

The Colorado education commissioner was proud of an innovation he called "School View." The online program allows a school to "make apples to apples" comparisons with schools that are similar in Colorado. It allows educators to discuss what's working or not working at schools with comparable demographics and educational challenges.

The Colorado Department of Education is allowing other states, including Nevada, to copy their model and develop their own programs, Jones said.

Keith Rheault, Nevada's superintendent of K-12 education, said he has collaborated with Jones many times. They're both active with the Council for Chief State School Officers.

In a telephone interview, Rheault praised Jones as "progressive and forward-thinking."

He said that "the district would be in great shape" if it hires Jones.

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