As part of process to ensure Deborah Flores is fit to be the
next head of schools, Gilroy trustees, district staff and community
members visited her current district to talk to colleagues and
watch her in action.
Gilroy – As part of process to ensure Deborah Flores is fit to be the next head of schools, Gilroy trustees, district staff and community members visited her current district to talk to colleagues and watch her in action.
The nine-person contingent from the Gilroy Unified School District spent Monday in the Lucia Mar Unified School District, where Flores is superintendent. The group met with board members and employees from the district – centered in the southern California city of Arroyo Grande. Provided the Gilroy group is satisfied with Flores’ performance, a criminal background check does not turn up offensive revelations, and Flores and the Gilroy board of trustees agree on a contract, she will attend a ceremony announcing her as the next superintendent at a board meeting May 17.
During the day, Gilroy representatives talked with teachers, administrators, district staff and Lucia Mar board members. They also saw the district’s facilities, visited a new elementary school recently built and opened under Flores’ watch, and a high school under reconstruction.
While in Lucia Mar, the group was scheduled to meet with principals who were subjects of a February controversy that led Flores to look into the Gilroy position. Flores, possibly under orders from the board, told two principals that they were being asked to move to another school or step down and was scheduled to give the same news to two more principals. However, outrage from teachers and parents aimed at the district prompted the board to convene a special meeting to approve a resolution stating that none of the four principals were being fired.
Details of the misunderstanding – as the board referred to it – have still not been publicly released. However, the event was what spurred Flores to begin looking at jobs in other districts, she said.
Gilroy representatives attending the site visit included three trustees – board president Tom Bundros and Pat Midtgaard and Rhoda Bress. Trustees Francisco Dominguez and Jaime Rosso stayed behind to attend a meeting with developers to discuss a voluntary fee hike for new construction that would help fund school district expansion. Marilyn Ayala, director of curriculum and instruction, and James Maxwell, principal of Gilroy High School, went down on behalf of the district staff.
Accompanying district representatives were the heads of Gilroy teachers – Jim Fletcher, president of the Classified Employees Union, and Michelle Nelson, president of the Gilroy Teachers Association. Husband and wife, Tim and Irene Day, also took the trip south. Tim Day is the chair of the city planning commission and Irene Day is a classified teacher with the district.
While waiting for the results of a criminal background check and going on the site visit, the legal representatives for the board and Flores have been hammering out a contract. Her compensation package will be comparable to those of superintendents at similar districts in Santa Clara County, the board decided at a March 29 meeting. The average salary in the county is $187,430, a board subcommittee reported. Former Gilroy Superintendent Edwin Diaz’ compensation package included $187,250 in salary, 22.5 vacation days, health care coverage and an $8,000 contribution to a retirement account.
Whatever the final compensation agreed upon in the contract, it is likely to be a raise for Flores, who makes about $165,000 at Lucia Mar.
If the contract is finalized, Flores is likely to take over in Gilroy this summer.
