Challenges await Garcia’s successor

By Emily Richmond (contact)

Monday, April 18, 2005 | 11:03 a.m.

Less than 24 hours after his announced his resignation, Clark County Schools Superintendent Carlos Garcia was fielding dozens of phone messages; some from well-wishers, others from media outlets seeking interviews.

And mixed into the slew of messages were a handful of calls from top-level administrators in other states, already interested in filling his shoes.

"Word travels fast," Garcia said Friday.

The School Board will meet Thursday to discuss appointing an interim superintendent to take over for Garcia once his resignation takes effect July 13. School Board members will also discuss how they plan to conduct the search for his permanent replacement.

Clark County School Board member Mary Beth Scow, who took part in the search five years ago that netted Garcia, said she plans to pull out the job description she and her colleagues drafted at the time.

"I don't think the qualifications and qualities we're looking for have changed much," Scow said Friday. "Integrity, experience ... those things are going to be right up at the top."

The last superintendent search cost the district more than $100,000 from the general fund. School Board member Susan Brager-Wellman said Thursday's meeting will include discussions of the potential costs of hiring a professional firm or consultant to help with the search.

"We found the right person last time and I believe we can do it again," Brager-Wellman said.

At least two potential candidates exist in-house. Agustin Orci, deputy superintendent of instruction, and Walt Rulffes, deputy superintendent of operations, complete Garcia's inner circle. It's a troika district staff and School Board members have affectionately dubbed "the three amigos.'

Both Rulffes and Orci have past experience as superintendents. Both men have declined to say whether they are interested in the job.

With an annual operating budget approaching $1.7 billion and 25,000 employees, the Clark County School District is the state's largest single employer and recipient of the biggest slice of county and state tax dollars. It is the nation's fastest growing and fifth-largest school district with more than 280,000 students.

When Garcia arrived in July 2000, there were about 230,000 students and the district had a $1.2 billion operating budget. Garcia, who had been the superintendent of the Fresno Unified School District at the time, recalls being puzzled when he first heard the numbers.

"Clark County's (budget) was only about twice what my budget was in Fresno for 80,000 students," Garcia said. "I remember thinking, 'Gee, how does that work?' "

The answer, Garcia said, was to adopt a motto of "doing more with less," making frequent trips to Carson City to plead for additional funding and eventually increasing the district's staff of grant writers in order to maximize chances of winning federal and private dollars.

For the 2004-05 academic year the district secured more than $94 million in federal grants, compared with about $55 million for the 2000-01 academic year, said Charlene Green, associate superintendent of student support services, the division that oversees state and federal grant applications for the district.

Garcia said he didn't believe Nevada's education funding levels would deter candidates from applying for his job but it could be a factor for consideration.

"By far, the greatest challenge will be to run schools with extremely low per-pupil funding," Garcia said. "How will you provide programs and services without adequate funding? How will you recruit and keep teachers if you can't be competitive on salaries. How will you reduce class sizes or provide full-day kindergarten?"

Garcia said he regrets that he's leaving the district without having secured a significant pay increase for teachers, particularly those in their first years in the profession. He would also have liked to see some of his initiatives, including a push to get more high schoolers into upper-level math classes and the introduction of aggressive college preparatory and magnet programs, bear fruit.

His contract with the district requires that he provide 90 days notice. He said he timed his decision to give the School Board time to conduct its search ahead of the 2005-06 academic year.

"What made this decision so hard was everything that was pulling me toward wanting to stay," Garcia said. "I would have liked to be here to make sure we passed another bond measure in 2008. The reality is that in this type of job you're never going to be done, there's never a right time to leave. So this is very bittersweet."

The School Board could face stiff competition in recruiting candidates from other regions, Garcia said. There are more than a dozen vacant spots for superintendents at major urban school districts across the country. Garcia, who earns $212,142 annually, said he expected the person who next filled the superintendent's seat to see a pay hike.

Some districts, including Miami-Dade County Public Schools, the nation's fourth-largest school district, recently hired a new superintendent for $295,000 a year plus benefits and a schedule of bonuses.

The nation's largest school district, New York City Public Schools, pays its chancellor $250,000 annually to supervise 10 region superintendents and more than one million students. Los Angeles Unified School District, taking the No. 2 spot on the list with 800,000 students, also pays its superintendent $250,000.

Garcia was one of just four Hispanic district superintendents in the United States, including two recent appointments in Texas. Nationwide just 6 percent of school superintendents are minorities and less than 1 percent are Hispanic, according to figures from the American Association of School Administrators.

Clark County is a "minority majority" district, with Hispanics accounting for about 32 percent of student enrollment.

Gary Waters, member of the State Board of Education, said Clark County should look for candidates with a proven track record of working well in large, diverse school districts.

"They need someone who has the ability to traverse the multiple layers of constituencies," Waters said. "The superintendent has to be prepared to work with the policymakers, the local business leaders and, of course, the parents, students, teachers and staff. Those are skills that are not easily acquired and they're skills that are necessary for someone to be successful in that job."

It was Garcia's first trip to the Legislature in 2001 when he accompanied Scow to testify on the need for increased education funding.

She vividly recalls being grilled by "the long-term senator from up north," who, she said, "just wailed and berated Mr. Garcia."

It was a tough confrontation with Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, offering little breathing room, Scow said.

"When we walked out my knees were knocking and I turned to Mr. Garcia and said, 'Wow, that was scary,' " she recalled, "and he said, 'Wow, that was fun!' "

Garcia freely admits that the anecdote highlights his tenacious nature.

"I do like the battle," Garcia said Friday. "I've always been a fighter and that's never going to change. But I admit I'm going to miss some of those fights in the public forum."