Rulffes doing some Cabinet shuffling

By Emily Richmond

Tuesday, March 7, 2006 | 7:44 a.m.

Clark County Schools Superintendent Walt Rulffes is cleaning house - and he's starting with his own executive Cabinet.

Under Rulffes' reorganization of the district's central office, several new positions will be created and key staff members have been reassigned.

Agustin Orci, who served as co-interim superintendent of the district during the search for a full-time replacement for Carlos Garcia, will not return to his post as deputy superintendent of instruction. Instead, Rulffes has appointed him head of administrative and management services, a new grouping of the human resources, research, technology, transportation and food services departments.

Asked if the move constituted a demotion, Orci said: "Certainly not. I indicated to Dr. Rulffes that I would do whatever he wanted me to do."

Per the terms of the special one-year contract appointing him interim co-superintendent, Orci's annual salary will remain $200,748 through June. He will revert to his deputy superintendent pay of $132,424 on July 1.

Before being named superintendent, Rulffes, as deputy superintendent of operations, also served as the chief financial officer. Those responsibilities now will be divided between Orci and a yet-to-be-hired CFO.

Rulffes said his responsibilities began expanding beyond finance in 2000 when his office absorbed oversight of the bond program. He later added legislative liaison duties.

"I put in a lot of hours," Rulffes said of his seven-year tenure at the helm of the district's business operations. "During this transition period, it seemed sensible to assign some of those duties to other people."

There may be additional restructuring of job responsibilities depending on the "depths of the candidates that apply" for the CFO position, Rulffes said.

The reorganization has drawn mixed reaction from district employees. Several administrators expressed frustration that Rulffes announced his plans with a written memorandum rather than first calling a staff meeting.

"Any time the comfort level is disturbed, there are going to be people unhappy about that," Rulffes said. "But the calls I'm getting are more positive than negative. Clearly the lion's share is on board."

School Board member Larry Mason questioned the necessity of hiring two people to do what Rulffes had managed solo.

"It was working well before," Mason said. "For $136,000 to $150,000 a year, and that's what we're talking about paying this person, you should be able to handle it all."

Mason said he would be more comfortable with the arrangement if the deputy superintendent of administration reported to the CFO, rather than have the two officials at similar levels of authority and salary.

If Rulffes is intent on adding positions, one should be a new deputy superintendent for English language learners and the district's English as a second language programs, Mason said.

"That position deserves some kind of recognition, to be at the Cabinet level or at least have a say in curriculum," Mason said.

The district has more than 40,000 English language learners and the number continues to grow exponentially, Mason said. A recent walkout by minority students at Green Valley High School, protesting what they viewed as unfair treatment by the administration, was the "tip of the iceberg," Mason said.

"We have a lot of parents and students at the elementary schools and the middle schools, too, who are not happy," Mason said. "Even when Carlos (Garcia) was here, I kept asking why we didn't give the ELL program the attention it needs. It seems like we don't really want to address the situation."

Fernando Romero, president of the Las Vegas nonpartisan organization Hispanics in Politics, said he hoped Mason's suggestion would carry weight.

"The need is tremendous," said Romero, who is chairman of the Clark County Housing Authority's board. "To not do something now, we're actually going backward."

Romero said former superintendent Garcia "was not innovative."

"Instead of helping out, he was hindering progress," Romero said. "Dr. Rulffes appears to be more open to hearing suggestions and acting on them."

In addition to hunting for a new CFO, Rulffes has folded the responsibilities of the deputy superintendent of instruction into the new position of chief academic officer.

Lauren Kohut-Rost, superintendent of the district's southeast region, will serve as the interim chief academic officer while a search is conducted. Her region post will be kept open until the search is completed in the event that she is not selected from the candidates for the permanent appointment.

Plans also are under way to create a pilot version of New York City's "Autonomy Zone," in which individual schools are given more control over budget decisions, hiring and curriculum in exchange for greater accountability.

Eric Nadelstern, who oversees the New York City pilot program, was a finalist for the Clark County superintendent job before withdrawing from consideration. The "Autonomy Zone" was touted by his supporters as a way for Clark County to develop schools that are more responsive to students' needs.

It's too early to determine whether an existing employee will oversee the pilot program or if a new position will be necessary, Rulffes said.

"Right now, it's (the pilot program) really more of a process to review certain schools for innovative methodologies that will lead us to improvements," Rulffes said.