Honeymoon is just beginning for Rulffes

By Emily Richmond (contact)

Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2007 | 7:08 a.m.

When Clark County Schools Superintendent Walt Rulffes was hired a year ago, he said he intended to keep the post for about three years before retiring.

But School Board members voted Monday to try to keep him even longer.

Rulffes' contract calls for an automatic one-year renewal at the end of August, although both he and the School Board have the option of calling it quits with 90-days notice by either side.

On Monday, School Board members said they want to keep their chief executive well beyond 2008. That is quite a change from 13 months ago, when Rulffes found himself enmeshed in a highly public and argumentative search for a new superintendent.

Rulffes was cast as a ho-hum insider, especially compared to the other finalist, an innovative educator from New York City. As the tenor of the search process grew more shrill, however, the New Yorker withdrew - with the post going to Rulffes almost by default.

School Board Vice President Sheila Moulton on Monday said Rulffes has the district on the right track, as student performance is on an upswing. Graduation rates have improved and the dropout rate has declined. More schools met state and federal achievement standards in 2006 than did the year before.

School Board member Shirley Barber said she was impressed by Rulffes' efforts to connect with the community, particularly parents and staff.

"You have reached out - perhaps more so than any of the superintendents since I've been here," said Barber, a retired principal in her third term as a board member.

Carolyn Edwards, who was elected to the School Board District F seat in November, told Rulffes to "keep up the good work. And stick around."

"I have plans to," Rulffes responded with a chuckle.

The School Board and Rulffes will meet Feb. 22 for contract discussions .

Underneath the back-patting and favorable reviews lies a decidedly serious issue - what it would mean if the School District were forced to look for a new superintendent at the height of its campaign to persuade voters to approve a bond measure in November 2008.

School Board members said they fear losing continuity before the election, when the district will try to win funding for an enormous building plan. The price tag for school construction and modernization is expected to be between $10 billion and $13 billion.

Rulffes said Monday he was gratified by the School Board's support. He declined to discuss the contract negotiations, or to say whether he intended to stay beyond the end of the next academic year.