The Clark County School District is looking for a new superintendent.
Pat Skorkowsky is retiring in June, and school board trustees are starting to get the wheels in motion to find his replacement.
Their meeting Wednesday was one ahead of public input meetings scheduled for later this month on what qualities and characteristics people want from the next leader of one of the nation's largest school districts.
Jackie Valley from the Nevada Independent has been watching this story. She told State of Nevada some board members had floated the idea where instead of hiring one person to fill the top job, they should hire two: one to oversee the educational portion of the job and the other to oversee the district's finances.
However, she said the rest of the board dismissed that idea. Instead, another board member suggested they put more safety nets in place along with communication protocols for the new superintendent.
"I think they would be more in agreement that they want someone who is accountable to them and views them as the top power holders," she said.
Whoever is hired to take over for Skorkowsky will be stepping into the massive reorganization of the school district. Valley said that, on paper, the board wants someone to carry out that task mandated by the state Legislature, but they also want someone who will push back against lawmakers' demands that some board members see as unrealistic.
"They want someone who, when these types of edicts come down from the state leve,l is really advocating for the district -- saying, 'Wait a minute, you didn't consider this or that. Let's take a step back,'" Valley said.
As the board searches for a new superintendent, one of the biggest topics will be salary. Valley said the salary will be in the $300,000 range, but it's not clear what that dollar amount really is.
Valley said some board members want the hire to be a "cost-neutral decision, so in other words, 'Yes let's pay the superintendent more but we're going to have to cut corners elsewhere.'"
As far as hiring someone from within the district, Valley said the board is open to that, but until the application process is finished, they won't know who is really interested.
Jackie Valley, reporter, The Nevada Independant
