First of new schools chief hopefuls interviewed

Terry Webster

Tuesday, March 21, 2000 | 11:18 a.m.

Change and controversy go together, says Timothy R. Jenney, a candidate for the job of Clark County School District superintendent.

Jenney, who by his own admission has a "thick skin," said he is not afraid of either.

The first of three hopefuls being interviewed this week by the School Board and the Superintendent Selection Process Committee, Jenney, 47, arrived Monday in Las Vegas with a 19-year-old dream: to lead one of the nation's top 10 school districts. Clark County is the nation's eighth largest with 217,000 students.

Whoever wins the superintendent's job will face a district fraught with a high dropout rate, high teenage suicide rate, high teenage pregnancy rate and poor student test scores.

"I will do what you ask," he pledged to the School Board, "but you can't have change without controversy."

Since 1996 Jenney has been superintendent of the 78,000-student Virginia Beach City School District in Virginia. He also has been superintendent of four other school districts ranging from 320 to 56,200 students.

Jenney told the Superintendent Selection Process Committee that during his first six months he would get a comprehensive look at the district by compiling statistics on attendance, discipline, dropouts, student promotion and retention, employer satisfaction with graduates, students in honors courses. He would also look at programs like English Language Learners and special education.

Clark County's strategic plan also needs to be updated, Jenney said. The most recent plan was put together in 1993.

Jenney also stressed the use of technology in education and the need for a strong public information office.

Controversy has preceded Jenney in the selection process of Clark County's next schools boss. Jenney is the sixth person the School Board and committee have interviewed for the position.

Five hopefuls were presented last fall in the first round. But by the end of December, none of them had panned out, and the process dissolved into controversy as the selection committee had supported an interim superintendent and the School Board rejected the idea. Board members also criticized search consultant William Attea for failing to do complete background checks on the first round of candidates after questions were raised about the salary of one.

Jenney has his own concerns about things that don't pan out. Namely, his superintendency in Virginia Beach began on a "raucous" note, after several of the board members who hired him were not re-elected shortly after he started.

"I had to solve a financial problem districtwide and a lot of people were not happy," he said, although he did not elaborate on how that was done.

Jenney asked whether the four Clark County School Board members who are coming up for re-election next fall are seeking to keep their posts.

Board president Mary Beth Scow and board members Ruth Johnson and Shirley Barber said they are planning to run again. Board member Lois Tarkanian, whose name has been suggested as a potential Clark County Commission candidate, said she isn't sure.

As far as political support for funding education, Jenney claims there is none.

"Education has no political constituency," Jenney said. "It never translates into dollars, although politicians will tell you otherwise."

Controversy also followed Jenney from Virginia Beach. John Jasonek, executive director of the Clark County Education Association, said Jenney brings a unwelcome reputation with him.

In a March 7 letter, Melody Cooper, president of the Virginia Beach Education Association, claims Jenney "is a man who has a history of union busting any way he can and he has plans to destroy the VBEA."

According to Cooper's letter, the School Board passed policies banning political material from the schools. Additionally, an attorney was asked whether the school district has to allow the Virginia Beach Education Association to use school mailboxes, provide payroll deductions for dues, conduct meetings on school property, use school public address systems and talk with members on school time.

But Jenney on Monday promoted the need for competitive teacher salaries. In fact, teacher salaries in Virginia Beach were raised to $29,000 a year for beginning teacher up to a maximum of $52,000 a year for those who have bachelor's degrees, he said.

Virginia Beach had to recruit more than 500 teachers last year, compared with Clark County's need for 1,500 to 2,000 new teachers a year.

In retaining experienced teachers, "salary is a key issue," Jenney said.