Two regional superintendents hired

David Kihara

Friday, June 24, 2005 | 11:10 a.m.

The Clark County School District Board of Trustees approved hiring two out-of-district candidates to serve as superintendents of the southwest and east regions Thursday.

The School Board also bid farewell to Clark County Schools Superintendent Carlos Garcia, who attended his last board meeting on Thursday. Garcia will be taking a position as vice president of urban markets for textbook giant McGraw-Hill Cos. next month.

The board approved the hiring of Robert F. Alfaro for the position of East region superintendent and Jolene Wallace as the southwest region superintendent.

Alfaro most recently worked as the associate superintendent for the San Antonio Independent School District in San Antonio, Texas. Wallace worked as the Implement Coordinator, National Faculty, at the Yale University School Development Program in New Haven, Conn.

School Board President Larry Mason said he wasn't familiar with either candidate personally or professionally.

While the School Board must give its stamp of approval to the superintendent's recommendations for central administrative appointments it is typically more of a formality than a key element of the process.

Board member Denise Brodsky said the board relied primarily on the advice of the panel formed to choose the superintendents when rendering its decision to approve Alfaro and Wallace.

"It was a fair process," Brodsky said. "I trust the recommendation of the panel."

Garcia said the decision to hire the new regional superintendents was based purely on their experience and merit.

Besides working as the associate superintendent for the San Antonio Independent School District, Alfaro was the superintendent at Premont Independent School District in Premont, Texas and worked as an administrator in the Texas school system, according to his resume.

Wallace was part of the online faculty at University of Phoenix and Assistant superintendent of secondary education at the Dayton Public Schools in Dayton, Ohio.

"If you look at their credentials, they are some top people," Garcia said.

He said that the field of candidates had narrowed to about 10 but wasn't aware of the total number of applicants who were vying for the position.

Garcia said that the district did not announce their names previously because it wanted to keep a certain level of confidentiality.

The district also performed an extensive background check on Alfaro and Wallace because "we wanted to make sure we got the real thing," he said.

After approving the two regional superintendents, the members also took time to thank Garcia for his five years of service to the district as superintendent.

Mason said he appreciated how Garcia always remained calm under pressure and brought what he called a high level of integrity and respectability to the district.

He also praised Garcia's dedication to the youth attending school in the district.

"Your battle for young kids -- I'm sure it will continue," he said.

Board member Susan Brager-Wellman also commended Garcia for his dedication to the district and the youth served.

"You put on the path to success," she said. "I truly respect you and the integrity that you have."

For his part, Garcia read the board members a letter he penned to them that was dated Thursday.

"I want to thank the school board, the 30,000-plus employees of the Clark County School District, and of course the community and students for giving me the privilege and honor of allowing me serve them as superintendent for the past five years," he read.

One board member who was not present at the end of the meeting was Shirley Barber, who has been Garcia's sharpest critic during his five-year tenure.

Barber, who attended the first two hours of the five-hour meeting, left shortly before the members went into a closed session because she said needed to catch a flight.

Before leaving, however, Barber again pointed criticism toward Garcia, saying that she was "sick and tired of playing these games."

She was referring to a motion introduced regarding the approval of consultant for the review and revision of the superintendent evaluation manual -- a document that sevres as a guide for evaluating school administrators.

Only Barber and Brodsky voted to approve this, while the remaining board members voted it down.

Barber was visibly upset after the motion failed to be approved

"The nonsense needs to stop," she said.

At the School Board's May 12 meeting Barber called for terminating Garcia's contract, saying he should not be involved in recruiting, interviewing or hiring central administrative staff with his departure imminent.

But the other School Board members refused to move to the closed session required for such a discussion. Garcia told the Sun in several interviews that he planned to continue his daily duties as superintendent until his final day on the job. And those duties include choosing candidates for key vacancies, Garcia said.

Several community groups, including the Urban Chamber of Commerce and the Caucus of African American Nevadans, have urged the School Board to investigate Garcia's actions in the waning days of his tenure.

George Ann Rice, associate superintendent of human resources for the district, said Garcia in no way intervened or interrupted the mandated interview process for the region superintendent candidates.

"The procedure was carried out as it always is, in full compliance with district regulations," Rice said.

Barber was not the only person at the meeting who was not happy with Garcia. During most of the meeting, Andres Mendoza and his 14-year-old son Allan held up posters with disparaging comments toward Garcia.

One poster stated "Mr. Garcia is soaking in the Jacuzzi while our students attend classes with leaky roofs" while another stated "Goodbye Thanks for nada."

Mendoza said he was upset with Garcia's performance, especially with the lack of resources for non-English speaking students.

The "Jacuzzi" mentioned on the poster was a reference to the School Board's recent $14.5 million purchase of an office building that includes a handful of private executive bathrooms. While the corner suites do have showers there are no bathtubs or hot tubs.

The School Board also heard Thursday from Bob McCord and Katherine Harney, the educational consultants hired to oversee the search process for Garcia's replacement, who presented a tentative timeline for the process. McCord and Harney said the School Board should expect to outline its job description and marketing plan this summer and launch the full search in the fall. Candidates would be recruited through the winter with finalists interviewed in January and February. The new superintendent would then be hired and introduced to the community in April and assume the helm of the nation's fifth-largest school district by July.

Sun reporter

Emily Richmond contributed to this story.