Gilroy
– For the first time in Gilroy’s history, the head of the school
district will be a woman, the Dispatch has learned.
Gilroy – For the first time in Gilroy’s history, the head of the school district will be a woman, the Dispatch has learned.
All three of the final candidates for Gilroy Unified School District superintendent are female. The chosen candidate – which the board could pick as early as Thursday evening – would be the district’s first woman superintendent, human resource records indicate.
Tom Bundros, board of trustees president and spokesperson for the superintendent search said all three finalists are from California and two of them are sitting superintendents. The third candidate has experience in positions in human resources and education and curriculum departments.
The identities of the candidates cannot be revealed because the board signed a confidentiality agreement with the candidates, he said. Candidates sometimes fear repercussions if the district where they work learns they are seeking a position elsewhere, he added.
“For a sitting superintendent especially, (confidentiality is) a very sensitive thing,” said Bundros. “If they’ve heard word that confidentiality has been breached, they say, ‘whoops – just kidding.’ ”
The three women were whittled down through qualification reviews and two days of interviews Thursday and Friday from a set of eight candidates, four of whom were men and four of whom were women. The original applicant pool consisted of 39 candidates, hailing from 10 states, and included at least 18 superintendents and 13 district administrators.
The second round of interviews – including a lunch, tour of the district, dinner, informal interview and farewell breakfast during which the finalist expresses salary expectations – started Monday and was scheduled to finish Thursday. The board was also scheduled to identify its preferred candidate Thursday evening in a closed session before a regular board meeting.
However, a scheduling conflict between a candidate and the board might lead to a situation where the board will not have all the information about the candidates that it needs to make a decision by Thursday, said Bundros. The board planned to discuss how to deal with this scheduling conflict in a closed session meeting Monday night after an informal interview with one of the candidates, he said.
Once the board identifies its preferred candidate, trustees will have the week of May 6 to visit her district and speak to her colleagues. During this period, the board will also hammer out a contract with the candidate.
The compensation package for the position 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.
Provided the board decides it wants to hire one of the three finalists and manages to settle on a compensation package, it will announce the next superintendent at a special meeting before its regular board meeting May 17.
