Garcia: ‘I’m in it for the long haul’

Terry Webster

Tuesday, June 19, 2001 | 10:41 a.m.

If the Clark County School Board's endorsement is any measure, Superintendent Carlos Garcia won't be leaving Las Vegas anytime soon.

After giving Garcia higher-than-average marks on his first annual evaluation, the School Board Monday extended his contract for one year, to the end of June 2005.

"Whew," the superintendent said after he emerged from the closed personnel session, which lasted about an hour and 45 minutes. "There weren't any 'I gotchas.' It was all done in the spirit of working together."

The board also gave Garcia a raise and made him eligible for a retirement allowance tied to his length of service with the district.

The raise, effective July 1, will be equivalent to the percentage increase received by the administrator's bargaining unit.

"If it's good enough for the employees, it's good enough for me," Garcia said.

The administrators' union is negotiating a new contract with the district, and school officials could not say Monday whether Garcia would get the 2000-2001 raise or the new raise being negotiated.

In the future, Garcia's raises will keep pace with the administrators', as long as the School Board gives him good marks.

Garcia earns a base salary of $200,000. His total compensation package is valued at $250,000.

The superintendent turned down a $10,000 bonus that he earned by scoring 139 out of 162 points on his evaluation.

He also agreed to a change in his contract that rewards him for staying in Clark County. It replaces the performance bonus with a longevity compensation allowance that kicks in after five satisfactory years.

"I'm in it for the long haul," he said, adding that Clark County has plenty of challenges to offer.

Before coming to Clark County he was superintendent of the Fresno Unified School District in California. Garcia worked in a variety of other administrative jobs and was a classroom teacher.

"I don't need a bigger district," said Garcia, who now leads the country's sixth largest. He joked with news media that he is "going to be around whether you like it or not."

Bill Hoffman, the school district's lead attorney, said the allowance will equal about $100,000 at the end of 10 years. But, he added, the way it is set up will allow the district to save about $200,000 over the same period.

Another change increases the amount of the annual contribution to an annuity from $10,500 to "the maximum annual contribution allowed." Further details were not disclosed.

Following the announcement about Garcia's evaluation, board members quickly exited the meeting. All of the decisions were reached by nearly unanimous vote.

Although she attended the closed session, board member Shirley Barber did not participate in the evaluation or the voting in public that followed the closed session. Hers was the only abstention.

Board President Mary Beth Scow said Barber, who disagreed with the evaluation process, handed Garcia a written evaluation with her comments.

"I wish she would have participated, but I have to respect her wishes," Garcia said.

Scow said board members' scores were similar in all areas in which Garcia was evaluated. The board rated him in areas ranging from relations with the public and staff members to financial management.

"I think he received some good feedback," Scow said.

In a meeting before the evaluation, board members began fine-tuning the goals that will apply to Garcia's next evaluation.

"Academic achievement is always our main goal," Scow said. "So we are setting specific outcomes we want to achieve.

"We want students to be proficient at their grade level, and we want them to have the skills that will allow them to go out into the workforce or on to college."

Looking ahead, Garcia said his plan to divide the district into five subdistricts should be up and running by the end of September. Offices for the regional superintendents are being set up in portable units on school campuses.