Board must thin field for 'super'

The choice is going to be a tough one.

After four days of interviewing candidates for the job of Clark County schools superintendent, School Board President Ruth Johnson said the job of winnowing the field of five to three finalists won't be easy.

"I was very impressed with all of them," School Board President Ruth Johnson said after meeting the first four candidates. "Each one of them has a special talent."

But in 10 days the board hopes to have three finalists. By Dec. 16 the board hopes to name a new superintendent.

Ken S. Burnley, superintendent of Colorado Springs District 11 Schools in Colorado; George F. Garcia, superintendent of the Tucson Unified School District in Arizona; James A. Fleming, superintendent of the Capistrano Unified School District in Orange County, Calif.; and Joseph J. Redden, a former commandant at the Air Force Academy, were interviewed Wednesday through Saturday by the School Board and the Superintendent Selection Process Committee. One more candidate, Henry R. Marockie, state superintendent of the West Virginia Department of Education, arrives Nov. 29 for his interview.

All are competing for the opportunity to lead the nation's eighth-largest school district. The successful candidate will replace Superintendent Brian Cram, who retires in July 2000.

Given the district's growth of about 1,000 students a month, a construction schedule of about one new school a month and a host of urban issues such as low minority pupil test scores and a high dropout rate, all of the candidates agreed working here would be a challenge.

A chance to live in Las Vegas makes the position attractive, too, candidates said.

Garcia calls Clark County "the most exciting urban school district in the country."

Fleming views the possibility of being superintendent here as the culmination of a successful career.

"I would see this as my final act," said Fleming, who estimated he has about 10 more years left in his adminstrative career.

While their approaches to education vary, all of the candidates agreed on the importance of improving student performance and hiring the best possible teachers.

Garcia said he uses a sophisticated data collection system to evaluate student performance. He believes school districts should openly acknowledge the differences between minority and nonminority test scores.

"It is an issue, and there's no point in being defensive about it," Garcia said.

Garcia said that under his leadership, pupil scores in Tucson have gone up. But he credits a lot of that to support from parents and the community.

"We ask the community for their work, wisdom and wealth," Garcia said.

Getting the best teachers also means getting rid of those who aren't performing up to par. Doing that in Clark County, isn't easy.

Here, teachers are eligible for tenure after one year, School Board member Susan Brager said.

Garcia said teachers who are having difficulty in his district are identified before they receive tenure. After teachers receive tenure, they are difficult to fire.

"After tenure, it could happen, but it's a much more difficult process," he said.

Burnley said the way to help teachers reach peak performance is to make performance expectations very clear.

And he has methods to help students improve. One is positive reinforcement.

"You can take the lowest achievers and if you love and nurture them, they can be simply the best," he said.

Yet Burnley puts the responsibility for doing well back in the hands of the students.

"Everyone needs to be accountable," Burnley said. "And the students need to be accountable."

Part of this approach involves giving students an idea of where their performance level should be. Then students are asked where they want to be.

Overall, Burnley made few assumptions about Clark County.

"The worst thing you could do is come in as a Mr. or Mrs. Know-It-All," he said. "You don't come in with a lot of assumptions."

Burnley said he would rather talk with school and community members about what is good -- and not good -- in the district, then decide on an action plan.

Like Burnley, Redden stressed the importance of giving staffers direction.

"It's important to clearly articulate what the expectations are," he said.

If that doesn't work, other actions can be taken, Redden said.

"Step one, you address any shortcomings in a nonthreatening way," he said.

Redden's plan for keeping kids in school and encouraging them to do well involves having a high school orientation that explains the perils of dropping out.

"There comes a point when someone is going to want something more in their life," Redden said, referring to young people who take well-paying jobs in Las Vegas that don't require a high level of education. "The way they are going to achieve that is through education. You have to sell them on what education does for them."

Redden told the panels he could handle the rapid changes occurring in the district.

"We've had to be the masters of change," he said, referring to the military. Of all of the candidates, Fleming appeared to get the most praise from School Board members for his performance. Board members repeatedly told him his answers were "excellent" or "very interesting."

While addressing how to best hire 2,000 new teachers a year in Clark County, Fleming suggested a "grow your own" program to recruit high school students to go into teaching.

Building a relationship with teacher colleges and hiring teachers early -- in December or January before a new school year -- also are important, Fleming said.

Lastly, and leastly, Fleming said, waivers may have to be used to get teachers into the classroom whenever shortages occur.

Another unique approach Fleming has is for a shortage of classroom space.

At times it may be necessary to consider suitable warehouses or vacant department stores as temporary classrooms, he said.

All of last week's sessions were open to the public, but no comments from the public were permitted.

That changes Dec. 2, when community members will have the chance to meet the superintendent candidates during a reception set for the Texas Station Armadillo Room, 2101 Texas Star Lane. The three finalists will speak for about an hour each between 3 and 7 p.m.

Those wishing to attend are asked to make a reservation by calling 799-1146, via e-mail at [email protected] or by fax, 799-0257.

If the board doesn't make a selection from the current candidates, the superintendent search firm it hired will produce more candidates.

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