Gilroy
– The school board continued barreling through the process of
replacing outgoing superintendent Edwin Diaz at its Thursday
meeting by planning interviews for two interim superintendent
candidates next week.
Gilroy – The school board continued barreling through the process of replacing outgoing superintendent Edwin Diaz at its Thursday meeting by planning interviews for two interim superintendent candidates next week.
Diaz hopes to leave Gilroy Unified School District in early March, but a permanent replacement may not be in place until July. The board has received four resumes from people willing to take the district’s reigns on an interim basis. The board will interview two of the four as early as Monday, if the candidates are available.
“We decided to interview the two candidates who have some experience being an interim (superintendent),” said Tom Bundros, board president. “We’ll talk to them, call their past districts and make sure everything was left in order, and I’m hoping we’ll make a decision immediately after the interviews. That way we can extend the offer and figure out the details of the interim’s contract at our next regular meeting.”
The four resumes came from people who Diaz had recommended, who heard about the job from the California School Board Association and who had heard through the education grapevine that Gilroy was looking for an interim superintendent, Bundros said.
Once an interim is selected, the board hopes to get the person in place by late February. Though the district has known Diaz would likely move to a superintendent position in Pasadena since mid-December, Diaz only formally accepted the job in early January.
Last week the board hired a consultanting firm, Chicago-based Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates, to aid in the hunt. Trustees are meeting with firm representatives today to set up a timeline for the search, create a leadership profile of the kind of person who would be a good match for the district and iron out details of the search, including where the firm will advertise, how many candidates the board wants and how community input will be integrated. Trustees will also discuss the costs involved in the search.
If things continue to run smoothly at this rate, a permanent replacement could be identified as early as May and in place shortly after, Diaz said.
At Thursday’s board meeting, trustees discussed how to keep a tight leash on costs, such as receiving a running tab of expenses and possibly having candidates pay their own travel expenses when coming for interviews. Diaz said he was required to pay his own travel expenses when interviewing for the job in Pasadena.
“I’m feeling great,” Bundros said. “We’re making progress, the board has confidence in our consultant firm, they’ll be doing several workshops with us and they’ll guide us toward finding the right candidate to move into the superintendent position.”
Trustee Javier Aguirre did not attend Thursday’s meeting because his wife recently gave birth to the couple’s second child, a baby girl. The board and audience applauded at the announcement.
