Clark County school board zeroes in on particulars in search for next leader

The Clark County School District will advertise an annual salary range of $350,000 to $400,000 for its next superintendent when the job posting goes up next month, the school board decided this week.

The board — which oversees the superintendent as its only employee and has the hiring and firing capacity over the district leader — made several major decisions Thursday night on the hiring process to permanently replace Jesus Jara, who stepped down in February.

In addition to a salary range, the board selected tentative candidate interview dates, agreed to meet with search firm members to develop a “leadership profile report,” OK’d a community survey and advertising and background check packages, and agreed to reimburse top candidates’ travel expenses for their in-person interviews.

“Although the subsequent meetings are very significant, this is the heaviest lift, is making all these decisions,” said Nanci Perez, chief operating officer of Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates, the search firm the board contracted with to assist with the search.

The school board has previously said it wants a new superintendent by Nov. 1. Here are the logistics that have been put into motion to make that happen:

Timeline

The job will be advertised in August and September, with an application deadline of Sept. 30. The search firm will present a first “slate” of candidates Oct. 2, with initial interviews set for Oct. 9.

Semifinalists will be interviewed Oct. 16, and the finalist selection is Oct. 30.

The board allowed some flexibility on the interview scheduling, though, as the interviews were slotted for 9 a.m. on those dates, which are Wednesdays. Board members, agreeing that could prove low for community participation, said they might reschedule the interviews to Saturdays.

Search firm to interview board members

A member of the Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates team will meet with each school board member for about an hour to develop a leadership profile report. This profile would probe board members on their visions and priorities, and philosophies on community and culture, leadership and management, and academic and operational goals — and how the superintendent would fit in with those. These interviews will take place in mid- to late August.

Survey

The search firm will distribute an online survey to district administrators, teachers, support professionals, parents and guardians, general community members, students and recently separated employees to gather their input.

The former employee group was board member Lola Brooks’ idea.

“If they recently separated from the district, I think that that’s valuable to know what that group is thinking. Because if they left for dissatisfaction reasons, then I want to really consider what they’re looking for as far as leadership qualities” go, she said.

These surveys will be translated into the seven most spoken languages other than English, according to district research — Spanish, French, Tagalog, Amharic, simplified and traditional Chinese, and Farsi. The board agreed to spend $2,490 on the translations using the search firm’s contracted professional translators’ rate. The board said it would tap local community groups to help translate into other world languages as needed.

Travel reimbursements

Candidates who are invited to Las Vegas for interviews will have their travel paid for according to existing district employee travel policies. The board agreed to spend no more than $10,000 on travel.

Advertising

The board will pay $3,920 for an ad package that posts the position online and in print in the national EdWeek newspaper, and on additional specialty websites.

Salary

The $350,000-$400,000 salary range listed is in line with the $395,000 that Jara made in base salary at the time of his departure.

Background checks

Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates will facilitate comprehensive background checks for every candidate who gets an interview. The board said it would pay up to $10,000 for these background checks, which will include reviews of criminal records, driving records, credit reports and degree verification, along with reviews of news media mentions and social media activity.

According to the approved timeline, representatives from the search firm will stop by additional planned school board meetings over the next three months to give continual updates on the process.

 

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