School official delays departure

For the second time in as many years, the administrator in charge of personnel for the Clark County School District has put off her retirement, this time because there's no one to take over.

The search to replace George Ann Rice is under way, and Clark County Schools Superintendent Walt Rulffes said he expects to name a successor soon. At Rulffes' request, Rice - who had planned to leave at the end of the month as associate superintendent of human resources - will stay through February.

The district is the state's largest public employer, with more than 30,000 employees. For the 2007-08 academic year, 3,500 new teachers need to be hired, as well as more than 2,000 support employees and dozens of administrators.

Rice originally planned to retire after the 2004-05 academic year. But after Carlos Garcia's surprise announcement in April 2005 that he was resigning as superintendent, Rice put off her retirement so that the district would not face the instability of two central office vacancies.

"I don't think I'll ever be ready to leave," Rice said. "But after 35 years there has to come a time when you move on, and I think this is probably the time."

The closing date for the chief human-resources officer job listing was originally Dec. 5, but Rulffes moved the deadline to Dec. 15 "because the rate of applicants coming in was kind of slow," Rulffes said. "There are fewer than I would have liked to have seen."

Of the 27 applicants, 19 are Nevada residents, including seven Clark County School District employees. The other eight live outside the state. Rulffes declined to identify any of the applicants.

Rice earns the current maximum of $122,340 annually. Her replacement will earn between $93,288 and $125,028, depending on experience. Rulffes said he approved moving the job up two steps on the administrative pay scale because of the change in responsibilities.

Rulffes said he has not yet begun reviewing the applications. If he isn't satisfied with the candidate pool, he could extend the deadline.

"Ultimately, the process is open until the position is filled," Rulffes said.

He didn't minimize the challenge of the job. "When a resort opens, it hires 9,000 or 10,000 people. But that's a one-time thing. There aren't a lot of people who can handle having to go out and get thousands of new people every year."

Rice leaves behind a School District known for its aggressive recruiting strategies. Visitors from other districts, sent on reconnaissance missions, are frequent.

"She is quintessentially one of the best recruiters in the country when it comes to large, urban school districts," said Robert Carlson, director of management services for the Council of Great City Schools. "The (Clark County School District's) HR department gets a lot of attention, a lot of people come to visit to see how recruiting is done. That says something."