First candidate for superintendent named

Terry Webster

Monday, March 20, 2000 | 11:13 a.m.

The first of three candidates for Clark County schools superintendent was announced this morning.

Timothy R. Jenney has been superintendent of the Virginia Beach, Va., city school district since 1996, a school district of 78,000 students and an annual budget of $464 million.

He will be interviewed this afternoon by the School Board and the Superintendent Selection Process Committee.

"Since 1981 it has been my dream to become superintendent and lead one of the top 10 school districts in the nation," Jenney said in his cover letter to the Clark County School Board. "Clark County represents that opportunity and challenge."

Clark County is the eighth largest school district in the nation with 217,000 students.

Jenney said that during his tenure in Virginia Beach he has focused on three main areas: academic achievement, accountability and fiscal integrity.

Before leading Virginia Beach schools, Jenney was superintendent for the school district of Greenville County, S.C., 1994 to 1996. He also led Union Public Schools in Tulsa, Okla., as well as Parchment School District in Parchment, Mich., and Leland Public Schools in Leland, Mich.

In addition, he has been an assistant superintendent, elementary school principal, special education director and junior high school and elementary school teacher in Michigan.

Two more candidates will be announced on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to a schedule released by the school district's public information office.

A second candidate will be interviewed by the School Board Tuesday from noon to 2 p.m., followed by an assessment center experience with the committee from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m.

On Wednesday the final candidate will face the School Board from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m., and will participate in the assessment center with the committee from 3 to 5 p.m.

At 9 a.m. Thursday, the committee will give the School Board a report on the assessment centers in the board room of the Education Center, 2832 East Flamingo Road.

Community receptions for each candidate are scheduled for Thursday and second interviews take place Friday.

All of the activities are being held at KLVX Channel 10, 4210 Channel 10 Drive. All are open to the public.

When the week is through, the School Board will discuss the candidates at a special meeting on March 27. If the board agrees on a candidate, a new superintendent could be named by April 6.

The district was left empty-handed following the first set of superintendent interviews in November and December, after five candidates either bowed out or were eliminated.

Henry Marockie, the former West Virginia schools superintendent, was one of two finalists for the Clark County superintendency. But trouble began for Marockie when West Virginia reporters reading Las Vegas news reports on the Internet found that Marockie was fibbing about his salary and benefits during interviews here.

An investigation ensued, and Marockie was faced with allegations that he mishandled public and private education funds. He recently resigned from his post.

To help prevent a similar mishap, the School Board directed Attea to have extensive background checks performed on all of the candidates before they are presented this week.

During the process, Attea and school officials have had their share bumps and bruises when things failed to go as planned.

Attea has criticized the board for not working together. In turn, School Board members were upset when Attea recently asked for a two-week extension to woo additional candidates he found at an school administrator's convention.

Finding a superintendent within the school district or presenting candidates from within the community are two ideas that were discussed during last week's School Board meeting.

Attea said candidates would be leery of coming to Clark County -- which has open meetings laws that make the entire process public --if they knew the School Board was considering an internal candidate.

The search committee in January recommended that businessman Jim Rogers, a television and radio station owner, serve as an interim superintendent. One committee member, Cheryl Routh, opposed the measure, calling it premature.

Rogers, a multimillionaire, offered to do the job for free until the district finds a permanent superintendent.

The committee also wanted to present the School Board with a study on using interim superintendents. The School Board refused, asking the item be removed from the committee's meeting agendas.

In fact, the interim proposal generated little discussion between School Board members.

At recent meetings, though, board members have said they are ready to look at other options if Attea's candidates don't work out.

The district budgeted up to $149,000 for the entire search process. The $40,000 fee already paid for the search firm, Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates of Glenview, Ill., will not increase, no matter how long the search goes on. The only additional dollars the school district will pay Attea, under the budgeted amount, is for his travel.

Terry Webster covers education for the Sun. She can be reached at (702) 259-4091 or by e-mail at terry@lasvegassun.com.