School Board to resume search for new chief

Terry Webster

Monday, Jan. 3, 2000 | 11:31 a.m.

Clark County School Board members say they are ready to resume the task of looking for a new superintendent, and they'll start with a Wednesday meeting to discuss the past search and the upcoming one.

None of the five candidates in the first search panned out, and the three finalists withdrew from the race before a decision was made.

The board is hoping to select a new superintendent prior to Brian Cram's retirement this July. Cram has said he will stay on for a short time after July, if necessary.

"I think we learned a lot," said board member Sheila Moulton. "I talked to other school districts about doing a superintendent search, and they said it will take twists and turns you will never expect."

Moulton said she expects superintendent search consultant William Attea to produce more good candidates. She also would like to see candidates considered from within the district, something board member Mary Beth Scow also said she will consider.

"I just hope we can come to a consensus on what the next step will be," said Scow.

Board members Lois Tarkanian and Shirley Barber said they will be looking for a full report on expenditures from the last search. They also want to keep costs to a minimum during the next round.

"I'm not in favor of spending any more money," said Tarkanian.

Barber feels the board could use a fresh approach this time around.

"We just need different goals at this time," Barber said. "We also need to look at money. I think we spent too much. We need to look at the reported expenditures and go from there. I think we could save a lot of time and money."

A less ambitious schedule also would help, said Barber.

"I think the interviews could be shorter," she said.

Board member Susan Brager said she is looking forward to meeting and discussing all of the board's options.

"I think everything turned out for the best," she said. "It would have been nice to have a candidate everyone was comfortable with, but that didn't happen, so we just have to move through the process."

School Board president Ruth Johnson could not be reached for comment.

The School Board's agenda lists nine areas to be covered by Attea and to consider a resolution calling for extending the out-of-district consultant agreement with Kathy Harney. She is a retired school administrator who acted as a liaison between the School Board, the search committee and the search firm.

The resolution says Harney's fee will be based on the current substitute administrators hourly pay rate of $22 per hour, or an estimated cost of $14,080 through April 2000.