School chief search raises doubts

Terry Webster

Wednesday, Dec. 15, 1999 | 11:14 a.m.

Two Clark County School Board members are having serious doubts about the search for a new district superintendent.

"I don't know anymore," board member Shirley Barber said Tuesday. "I don't know what to think. I'm not ready to start this all over but we may have to. As I've said several times already, 'Why are we rushing through this?' We don't want to make any mistakes. If we make mistakes then we're hurting children."

Barber, like other board members, was disappointed at the discovery late last week that the current salary and benefits package of a superintendent candidate was misrepresented.

Search firm consultant William Attea of Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates in Glenview, Ill., told the School Board that Henry Marockie, state superintendent of West Virginia schools, was earning a salary of $146,000 and received a $600-a-month housing allowance and country club membership as perks.

The Charleston Gazette newspaper in Charleston, W.Va., then reported that Marockie's salary is actually $100,000 and the perks are nonexistent.

Marockie and retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Joseph Redden are the two finalists competing to become the district's next superintendent after Superintendent Brian Cram retires in July 2000.

The School Board is continuing to check references on both candidates. Three board members paid a visit to Marockie in West Virginia. Board member Larry Mason said he is being lined up to visit a site where Redden worked.

"I'm very pleased with the two finalists," Barber said. "I was especially impressed with Marockie. I felt his answers were good and that he really knew what was going on in schools."

According to board members, telephone calls they have made to Attea since Friday -- to find out where the erroneous salary figure came from -- have gone unanswered.

"There are some problems," said Mason, who added that he now thinks the schedule for selecting a new superintendent has been rushed. The seven-member School Board has set Dec. 21 as its deadline.

"Because of the lack of information and some of the things that are going on, I really have some concerns," Mason said. "I'm wondering if maybe we really should have waited. Maybe we should just stop the whole process and start all over again."

Board members Mary Beth Scow and Sheila Moulton aren't at that point.

I'd like to know if the salary was misrepresented or if it was a mix-up," said Scow. "I don't anticipate going back through the whole process. But at the same time, I want to be really sure about who we pick."

Moulton and board member Susan Brager said they want to discuss the matter with the entire School Board.

"I'm comfortable with continuing to discuss this during the open meeting," Moulton said. "I think we have to look at this very carefully."

Brager said she plans to wait and see what information the consultant brings forward before making additional statements about the search.

Ruth Johnson, School Board president, and board member Lois Tarkanian could not be reached for comment.

Additional discussion on the superintendent search is expected during Thursday's School Board meeting set for 5:30 p.m. at the Greer Education Center, 2832 East Flamingo Road.