Barber refuses to evaluate Garcia

Terry Webster

Friday, June 15, 2001 | 9:57 a.m.

When Clark County School District superintendent Carlos Garcia receives his first job performance evaluation Monday, at least one School Board member will not be participating.

Board member Shirley Barber is refusing to evaluate Garcia because she says the board failed to follow its own goals by not setting specific goals for Garcia.

Fellow board members agreed that the procedure it will use to judge Garcia, now on the job for one year, needs to be fine-tuned. The board, however, voted down a proposal by Barber to revise the evaluation format it already had approved.

The debate stemmed from the board's Policy Governance program, which shapes how the board operates.

Under Policy Governance, the board has directed Garcia by telling him what he cannot do, rather than what he can do.

"He has done very well," Barber said of Garcia. "But you have to have goals in an evaluation, in my opinion. I'm very concerned about that and I cannot participate in the evaluation."

Barber said Policy Governance requires the board to set specific goals and the board has not defined them.

Board president Mary Beth Scow disagreed, stating that its directions for what Garcia cannot do in essence has defined his goals.

"We are telling the superintendent what we expect," she said. "I do not feel we are doing anything illegal and it's unfortunate that if someone disagrees, they are not going to participate."

Board members encouraged Barber to change her mind, but she refused.

Barber wanted to give Garcia an informal evaluation next week, then follow it up with a full evaluation in a couple of months.

Prior to Barber's suggestion and announcement, the board approved a measure that the point system used to evaluate Garcia will be adjusted in the event any board member is not present at the evaluation, which is set for 4 p.m. in closed session Monday at the education center.

During the session, board members are expected to discuss a scorecard each member will use to evaluate him. Then, the board is expected to announce Garcia's overall score and whether he will be eligible for any bonus or raise.

Previously, Garcia said he does not feel it would be appropriate for him to accept a raise, based on the district's tight budget constraints.

In other regular action during Thursday's meeting, the board approved a conditional charter for the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Charter School. The school plans to open this fall with 150 elementary school students, who were selected by a computerized lottery system. Additional grade levels will be added each following year.

The charter was conditional because the building, located in West Las Vegas, is not completed.