Board member seeks to limit Garcia

Wednesday, May 11, 2005 | 10:52 a.m.

Clark County School Board member Shirley Barber wants to curtail Superintendent Carlos Garcia's authority for the two months remaining in his tenure, including prohibiting him from making purchases, creating new administrative positions or approving pay hikes for current employees.

Garcia, hired as superintendent in July 2000, announced last month that he would be leaving the district for a position with McGraw-Hill Cos. as vice president of urban markets.

In an agenda item submitted by Barber for Thursday's meeting, the three-term School Board member says she wants "clearly specified limitations on the superintendent's authority" through July 13, Garcia's departure date.

"I feel very strongly that he should not be making decisions that we have to live with down the road," Barber said Tuesday.

Since his arrival in July 2000, Barber has been one of Garcia's severest critics. She was particularly vocal last year after Garcia approved 10 percent pay hikes for Agustin Orci, deputy superintendent of instruction, and the district's senior legal counsel, Bill Hoffman. Several School Board members, including Barber, were rankled that they were unaware of the raises until after the fact.

Garcia said the raises were overdue and designed to bring Orci and Hoffman's pay scale in line with that of Walt Rulffes, deputy superintendent of operations. Rulffes had received a raise several years prior after Clark County officials learned he was being wooed by other districts.

The School Board's legal advisor, and later Clark County District Attorney David Roger, determined Garcia's actions did not exceed his authority.

But School Board members scolded Garcia in a closed-door session after which the superintendent publicly apologized for not communicating his plans ahead of time, even though district regulations did not require him to do so.

"He's (Garcia) is going to be gone in July and I don't want there to be any more surprises," Barber said.

Rulffes and Orci are slated to become co-interim superintendents July 14. Barber said she's also considering a motion to limit their job responsibilities, as well.

Garcia said what Barber is proposing would essentially be a breach of his contract.

"Until the last day that I work here I'm the superintendent of schools and I have a contract that says so," Garcia said. "I intend to carry out my responsibilities."

Garcia said while he has no plans to hand out raises before his resignation takes effect, the district is in the midst of seeking replacements for three key positions: associate superintendent of human resources, zoning, demographics and real property director and east region superintendent.

Educators typically change jobs over the summer, when it's easier to relocate and begin work with the start of the new academic year, Garcia said. That makes the next two months critical in terms of recruiting, interviewing and ultimately hiring the best possible candidates, Garcia said.

"I've poured five years of my life into this place and it's important to me to continue supporting it," Garcia said. "The best way for me to do that is to make sure we're getting a shot at bringing quality people on board."

Clark County School Board President Larry Mason said he would not support Barber's motion at Thursday's meeting.

"It's one thing to buy out the guy's contract and say goodbye and good luck, it's another to keep paying him and not let him do his job," Mason said. "That's not in keeping with the fiduciary responsibility we have as School Board trustees."

It's not unusual for organizations to have "lame duck" policies that prohibit employees from taking certain actions once they have announced plans to depart, said UNLV political science professor Ted Jelen.

"Some boards want employees to keep working until the last day, others don't want them rewarding their cronies or lining their pockets," Jelen said. "I can see circumstances where that might be a legitimate concern."

What's unusual, Jelen said, is that Barber's agenda item is specific to Garcia, rather than a permanent change to the district's regulations.

"It seems clearly punitive," Jelen said. "For those of us who think Superintendent Garcia done a credible job under extraordinary circumstances, it seems almost a gratuitous insult in this case. The general idea of a lame duck policy is certainly defensible. But to aim it specifically at him is really unnecessary."

Keith Rheault, state superintendent of public instruction, said there is no "lame duck" provision in his job description.

"I can do anything until the last day that I'm employed," Rheault said. "Whether you should do things knowing you're leaving is another question, but technically it could be done."

Clark County Manager Thom Reilly said his job contract does not include any provisions that would keep him from performing his normal job duties after tendering his resignation. There are already checks and balances in place, Reilly said, noting his appointments of departments heads and purchases over $25,000 must be ratified by the Clark County Commission.

Reilly said cutting off the superintendent's authority could be a mistake.

"The district needs to run even during times of transition, it should not come to a standstill," Reilly said. "That could have an adverse effect."

As for Garcia, he has no plans to stop work.

"I gave my required 90 days notice but I'm still here, and I intend to follow the obligations of my contract," Garcia said. "I would hope School Board members would do the same."