The Gilbert Unified School District will hire a facilitator to help gather information about what qualities the community wants in its next superintendent.
The district governing board made the decision by a 3-2 vote Feb. 12.
Superintendent Dave Allison told the board at the end of January that he will retire following the end of his contract on June 30. Allison has served as the district’s leader since 2008.
“What this item is requesting is a professional facilitator to engage the public in dialogue as far as what the public is looking for in qualities for a superintendent,” board president Staci Burk said during the meeting.
The district now has “qualities of a superintendent” as part of its policy, Burk said. But she noted that this allows the community to take another role in the hiring of the next district leader.
A facilitator would cost about $3,000, based on costs for previous facilitators, board members were told.
Board member Lily Tram raised concerns about the costs.
“I’m just a little concerned about spending funding for this. You’re going to hire someone to run a search committee? Right?” she said.
Burk indicated that the board could hire someone later to help lead the search for a superintendent.
“There’s a cost to do things right. There’s a much bigger cost to do things wrong,” board member Daryl Colvin said, explaining his vote.
Board member Julie Smith pointed out that the board was asked during public comment to make the sure the community is involved in the superintendent search.
“We did get comments earlier this evening that we keep this as open and transparent as possible. This is the desire I am hearing. I like the idea of the facilitator and having meetings,” Smith said.
Colvin, Smith and Burk voted for the hiring of a facilitator. Tram and Jill Humpherys voted against the motion.
“My concern is a search consultant can provide this service,” Humpherys said, noting she believes the cost to hire a search consultant will be “$10,000 to $25,000.”
“To fill Dr. Allison’s shoes I think that would be funds well spent to keep us on the course we’re on with high academics and very good financial management,” she said.
The board also approved last week the hiring of facilitators to run two advisory committees it created. One committee will look at surplus space in the district. One will look at possible expansion of Gilbert Classical Academy.
Later in the week, the district posted a notice on its website that it is seeking community members to participate in these two committees.
Earlier this year, the governing board voted to reverse a decision made to close Gilbert Junior High School as a neighborhood campus and move Gilbert Classical Academy to the site.
The seven-year-old academy offers a college-prop program on about half of a former elementary school site at Greenfield and Elliot roads.
Contact writer: (480) 898-6549 or mreese@evtrib.com
magenta posted at 10:14 am on Mon, Feb 18, 2013.
This school district is being run by the Tea Party. The board wants to spend no money on looking for someone and will eventually just go with their own hand-picked underqualified person. I hear Bristol Palin is available.
WesternConnections posted at 2:24 pm on Mon, Feb 18, 2013.
Hiring a trained facilitator for these committees is a great decision. First, it's probably less expensive than the hourly cost for assigning that duty at the assistant superintendent or district director level. Second, it's a BIG step toward transparency. Remember all the comments about how committees in the past have been "stacked" to achieve the desired result for the superintendency? We do.
The GPS administration has a lot of recent experience with "There's a much bigger cost to do things wrong." The six-figure Strategic Plan comes to mind, with its pre-ordained content and Allison touting the final result as justification for closing Gilbert Junior High School without due diligence on the details of that ill-considered and premature decision. There definitely was a needless opportunity cost for all the worthy initiatives that fell by the way while GPS focused on the wrong thing at the wrong time.
WesternConnections posted at 2:24 pm on Mon, Feb 18, 2013.
For Jill Humpherys: It appears that hiring a search consultant is something you'll get to vote on in the future, AFTER this committee does its work of defining what qualities the district should seek in a new superintendent. It sounds smart to know where you're going BEFORE you start down the road, and perhaps before you even gas up the car on the public dime.
Mike McClellan posted at 2:49 pm on Mon, Feb 18, 2013.
What's going on in GPS? I noticed that on tomorrow's agenda is the retention of three Assistant Superintendents?
Is that typical or is that some kind of move to "cleanse" the district? Is the new majority out to clean house?
And what's this parent curriculum committee that the Board will discuss next month? What will its purpose be?
Now the ball's in the new majority's court, let's see how they handle the Gilbert Classical Academy bruhaha. It's clear that the district needs a larger school for the demand, and it's clear that the district could easily lose some of the "best and the brightest" to charter schools popping up around the town.
I'm not sure what WesternConnections above means by the "wrong thing at the wrong time," but GPS -- despite its outstanding test scores and the huge number of graduates leaving the high schools loaded with scholarships -- cannot keep things as is, given the competition moving this way and already here.
WesternConnections posted at 4:29 pm on Mon, Feb 18, 2013.
Hi Mike. "The wrong thing at the wrong time" meant deciding to close Gilbert Junior High School and repurpose the campus for Gilbert Classical Academy BEFORE the GPS administration had determined needs or costs, reviewed school attendance boundaries, followed necessary procedures (like notifying the facilities board and all affected families). They ultimately stirred up an "us v. them" battle just before the elections in November. The chances of the budget override passing was much greater before this controversy ignited these fires of discontent. "Us v. them" continues at just about every level within GPS: assistant superintendents, directors, principals, teachers, parents.... It's a sign of weak GPS leadership that will take more than two months to cure.
We agree with you that GPS cannot keep things as is, given the competition. Higley's new schools would benefit from attracting experienced junior high school teachers who were burned out by needless controversies at Gilbert Jr High and Highland Jr High. Chandler has some excellent programs for gifted students and academies that attract potential GCA students and their families, especially given the negative publicity about GCA in recent months. GPS will pay a price for losing Ken James for a long time to come, especially with the great programs he leads at Basha High School. The fallout for GPS from the negativity of Fall 2012, plus the many lawsuits and notices of claim, plus negative articles in local and national media foreseeably will continue for years to come. Sad, isn't it?
Ivanna posted at 7:13 pm on Mon, Feb 18, 2013.
We shall see if this new school board finds the money to unfreeze the teachers' pay that has been stuck/cut for the last five years. There were claims that they wanted more money going to the classrooms. I've got my doubts, but if they can find money for facilitators and such...maybe they can for this too. By the way West Con, there is no additional cost to make a salaried district administrative employee do an additional committee as a facilitator.
OldMan posted at 2:01 pm on Tue, Feb 19, 2013.
"The Gilbert Unified School District will hire a facilitator to help gather information about what qualities the community wants in its next superintendent."
This makes it seem like the board is opening things up, but in reality how much clout will this facilitator have?
Quote prediction from board member: "After a long and thorough search, we've decided the best choice for superintendent is..................ME!!!!!!!!!!!!"
WesternConnections posted at 5:42 pm on Tue, Feb 19, 2013.
OldMan - We had a vision of Dick Cheney flash before our eyes, too! That's reason enough to keep GPS employees away from the committees and far away from the evaluation process in this new superintendent search. The new superintendent will be the boss of all GPS employees -- s/he should not have any implied obligations associated with getting the job.
WesternConnections posted at 5:53 pm on Tue, Feb 19, 2013.
We agree with you, Ivanna, that unfreezing teacher pay is a top priority. The loyal GPS employees who stayed with the district through the hard years have watched new hires come in at the correct step on the pay scale. Those loyal people have seen their take home pay decrease due to their own pay being frozen for 5 years.
As far as facilitating, there are huge costs in terms of lost opportunities every time an assistant superintendent takes on an additional task -- there are only so many hours in a day. A lot of routine matters seem to have fallen through the cracks as a result of the turmoil of recent months; district folks need to focus on fixing what's broken and concentrate on their primary responsibilities. The public deserves transparency in the superintendent search, assuring that no one can put their thumb on the scale to influence the outcome.
LiveInGilbert posted at 1:21 pm on Wed, Feb 20, 2013.
The public desrves transparency in everything involved in GPS. Very interesting 2 hastily and last minute meetings called regarding review of Superintendant and Asst Superintendant contracts - looking forward to more transparency as we move through this, the committees and other Board actions. Would be nice to see some Board activitity addressing moving the academic needle on the GJHS "C" rating - but it seems just keeping the school open has been the battle cry. Now it seems funny you talk about rushing and doing wrong thing at wrong time - it certainly seemed like Ms Burk and Ms Smith were in a hurry to move things along at the last board meeting in order to have a chance to have some preordained GCA "solution" available for next year - but I guess if it's your idea that you are rushing towards then it's OK. And Westie - we are so glad that you keep everyone informed of your version of the "facts" on your website - much of it does make for good fiction reading or an op-ed, but in terms of "truth" or "fact" .... not so much.
WesternConnections posted at 2:52 pm on Wed, Feb 20, 2013.
We personally think GCA should get a shiny new campus that's big enough for the future. We also think the new campus should have state of the art technology. In this case, it seems people can't stop complaining, even when they're given what they demanded for GCA - now it's problematic to define needs and develop real solutions? Gilbert Junior High School has moved on to revitalizing school spirit that was so traumatized in the past few months; they're generating their own positive press coverage and celebrating the school's diversity. LiG, we think you're just sore that we posted The Truth in Gilbert, Part Two. Why? We put your name in lights! http://westernconnections.com/thetruthingilbert2.html
LiveInGilbert posted at 7:17 am on Thu, Feb 21, 2013.
Well 2 errors - shocking you are wrong again- but my name is not in your Truth (sic) in Gilbert and I never demanded anything for GCA. I know why you are sore and have a vendetta for the GPS District - but that's another story!
LiveInGilbert posted at 10:57 am on Thu, Feb 21, 2013.
And my last comments Westie - because although it does provide some entertainment to comment to you it really is a waste of time and energy that I would rather direct elsewhere. First - really, a new and shiny GCA? Since you and the merry band of fringers, along with your Board members, determined the GPS was so well funded and full of waste that we didn't need override dollars nor the state dollars lost - where does that money come from? Second - while school spirit is great - school academic performance is really what prepares our children for life and that's never been addressed for GJHS. Perhaps that should be the focus so they can celebrate academic success. Last - you and others closely associated with you (what are the ties that bind - have to have a current or past lawsuity against the District to fuel your actions?) specifically through your writings are vindictive, divisive, mean spirited, and often outright lie - and try to intimidate and bully others that don't agree with your personal crusade against the district. It's sad - but most can see that there is a separate agenda that is deeply personal versus the global good for all of the GPS children and community. Good luck chasing your windmills...
Mike McClellan posted at 1:35 pm on Thu, Feb 21, 2013.
I'd like to see a new campus for GCA, as well. If . . .
A. our population numbers demand it. That is, would repurposing a school with declining enrollment be less expensive than building a new one?
If so, people need to understand that things change. My old elementary school in Tucson just got the deep-six for next year. Why? Declining enrollment combined with an aging neighborhood. Schools in Mesa have had the same experience.
Is it painful for the folks in those neighborhoods? Of course. But we have to understand that keeping a school open in its current form just because it exists isn't necessarily the best for the district.
B. we have the money to build that shiny new GCA. Obviously it's a bond issue, and is the new majority on the board -- who didn't back an override -- ready to support a bond? And doe we have the land available for a new school or would the district need to purchase additional land?
I hope the committee set up to review the future for the GCA does a good job. But I do wonder about the new majority on the board, especially after watching them in action at meetings.