Gilroy
– The school district took the first steps of a long journey
toward finding a new superintendent Saturday.
The Gilroy Unified School District Board of Trustees met for a
special study session to get the process rolling, making key
decisions concerning the early stages of the search.
Gilroy – The school district took the first steps of a long journey toward finding a new superintendent Saturday.
The Gilroy Unified School District Board of Trustees met for a special study session to get the process rolling, making key decisions concerning the early stages of the search. The board unanimously decided to hire a consulting firm to take over the national candidate hunt to replace current superintendent Edwin Diaz, who hopes to move to his new superintendent position at Pasadena Unified School District in early spring.
The board selected five firms, based on reputation, research and recommendations from Palo Alto Unified School District, which is also conducting a superintendent search. The firms will each submit proposals, outlining what services they’ll provide and their fees, which can range from $20,000 to $35,000. The board hopes to have interviewed and hired a firm by Jan. 25.
Trustees also confirmed they’ll look for an interim superintendent to take the district’s reigns after Edwin leaves and before a permanent replacement is hired. Part of most consultant’s services include locating potential interims, though Diaz said he’d provide the board with a list of names during the closed session of their next meeting on Jan. 18.
“I know several people and have talked to many of them about the interim position,” Diaz said. “There are people out there who are already familiar with the district and who are willing and able to not only come and take the reigns temporarily, but to work and move things forward. These people will not just keep things going at the minimal level.”
There has been speculation that Sam Bozzo, a Gilroy resident and former assistant superintendent in Monterey, is on Diaz’ short list of interim recommendations, but he will be out of town frequently during the next three months doing consulting work. One person Diaz may have on his short list is Leo St. John, a Hollister resident and a retired superintendent with 28 years of experience, Bozzo said
“No, I haven’t been contacted, but if I was, I would give it serious thought,” St. John said. “I wouldn’t say no and I wouldn’t say yes right away.”
During the study session, board members frequently turned to new trustee Francisco Dominguez for guidance because he’s been through two previous superintendent searches at other districts. Diaz also freely told the board how he was recruited and how Pasadena was successful in luring him away from GUSD. Board President Tom Bundros and Vice President Rhoda Bress both attended a Palo Alto Unified School District board meeting last week to get ideas about how to conduct the superintendent search. Among other things, the Palo Alto board meeting provided a list of potential interview questions for the consultants, Bundros and Bress said.
Trustees also discussed the future of the search process. Board members agreed it was important for the public, teachers and district administrators to all have a say in the process. Trustee Javier Aguirre said he would like consultants to engage the Spanish-speaking community, and several trustees said they’d like the steps of the search outlined on the GUSD Web site so the community can follow the progress.
The only tense moment of the meeting was after Diaz presented his tentative transition plan to the board. In his timeline, he has an interim superintendent arriving in late February so he can start his job in Pasadena March 1. Board members were quick to tell him they weren’t comfortable setting such an early departure date and that they may not be able to release him from his contract until mid- to late-March. Board members would only say they wanted a better idea of when an interim could come on board before committing to a release date.
Bundros said Saturday’s special meeting was the best publicly-attended study session he could remember and he was pleased with the board’s progress. Diaz and Bress also said they felt the board took significant steps in starting the search for a superintendent.
“Tom did an excellent job preparing for that retreat and his presentation was full of good information,” Bress said. “It was clear he did a lot of background work and because of that we were able to cover all the important areas we needed to discuss.”
