Board seeking unity after failed attempt to land schools chief

Terry Webster

Thursday, Jan. 13, 2000 | 11:16 a.m.

The Clark County School Board decided Wednesday to interview two candidates for the superintendent's job between March 7 and 20 and to spend almost $150,000 to fill the position that Brian Cram is scheduled to leave in June.

But after one failed attempt to fill the job, in which all of the finalists were eliminated or withdrew, the seven School Board members' minds were on an equally important matter -- building trust among themselves.

The board has been split over the recommendation by the Superintendent Selection Process Committee, a seven-member advisory group of business and community leaders, to appoint television and radio station owner James Rogers as interim superintendent to take pressure off the selection process.

Rogers, president of the Las Vegas-based Sunbelt Communications, has offered to do the job for free until the School Board hires a new superintendent.

During the five-hour workshop Wednesday, discussion turned to the role of the selection committee in the search.

During the first set of superintendent interviews, the committee first spoke to the candidates during assessment centers, which were supposed to include problem-solving activities. Instead, they wound up being interviews, producing many of the same questions later asked by the School Board.

"We need to be up front and be the ones asking appropriate questions," board member Larry Mason said.

The board unanimously agreed to interview candidates prior to sending them through assessment centers conducted by the selection committee.

The issue of who is in control was taken one step further by board member Ruth Johnson, who asked the board to reaffirm its commitment to seeking a new, permanent superintendent by April 1. Board members agreed, but Johnson went on to suggest the committee be asked to remove an item from its agenda today that calls for the development of a plan to select an interim superintendent.

Johnson said there is a misconception in the community that the committee is controlling the School Board.

Board member Lois Tarkanian said she sees nothing wrong with the committee continuing to make its own thoughts and recommendations known, because the School Board will make any final decisions.

Then School Board members turned their attention to distrust, hidden agendas and even racism some members felt has been present in their dealings with each other in an attempt to reconcile itself before the next set of interviews begins.

One of the activities involved writing down annoying practices of other board members on note cards and handing them to search firm consultant William Attea of the Glenview, Ill.-based firm, Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates Attea, who read them.

Board member Shirley Barber, who is black, said she has felt shunned by most of the board and has observed subtle and overt racism on the board and with different committees she has worked with.

Tarkanian objected to being seen as a troublemaker. "I'm tired of people saying I'm the 'devil woman' here," she said.

Board President Mary Beth Scow said she spoke with an Orlando, Fla., school board that has been facing similar problems. Scow paid for a videotape and book -- out of her own pocket -- that the Florida board reported having success with.

"It's like taking seven children from seven different backgrounds and asking them to play together," Attea said.

If all goes well, a new superintendent could be named at the School Board's March 23 meeting.

April has become the arbitrary cutoff point for naming the next leader of the Clark County School District, the nation's eighth largest. Even Johnson suggested the board will have to look at other options by that time if a permanent superintendent is not found.

Cram has agreed to stay on for a short time after his July retirement, if needed.

Following the meeting, Attea said he has already started recruiting.

"I've received about 15 phone calls and I've made some, but I haven't followed up on them yet," Attea said. "I wanted to see what action the board took today and whether they were going to stick with two candidates."

The board discussed having three candidates, but decided to stick with two. Attea expects quality candidates to come forward for the job, because the odds are better than they were during the first slate, which had five finalists.

Attea said he even approached a former superintendent from a large urban East Coast district, whom he would not name. But that person has already accepted another position.

For the first search, Attea's firm produced candidates that included three superintendents from districts with student populations in the 40,000 to 60,000 range, compared with 217,000 in Clark County.

On another matter, Attea produced a detailed budget for what the search will cost. The board set an amount it wanted to spent, but did not design a budget, he said.

The $149,569 budget approved by the board calls includes $40,000 for Attea, a set fee that represents no additional cost; $15,500 in travel costs for Attea; $15,000 in advertising expenses; $4,500 for additional workshops; $17,000 in candidate travel; $15,000 for board member travel; $14,800 for the district's superintendent search liaison; $10,000 for pamphlets and surveys; $7,269 for pre-search advertising; $1,500 for background checks; and a $9,000 contingency.