School Board trustees took the next step in hiring a new
superintended last week when they voted unanimously to hire Rudy
and Janet Gatti, Board Advisors, to lead the search.
“I am very pleased with the decision the board has made,” Shelle
Thomas said Thursday. “We had some very excellent firms to
consider, and I think Rudy and Janet Gatti will best fit the needs
of our district.”
School Board trustees took the next step in hiring a new superintended last week when they voted unanimously to hire Rudy and Janet Gatti, Board Advisors, to lead the search.
“I am very pleased with the decision the board has made,” Shelle Thomas said Thursday. “We had some very excellent firms to consider, and I think Rudy and Janet Gatti will best fit the needs of our district.”
One aspect of the search trustees stressed as important was community involvement.
The firm will work with the community, as well as district staff, students and parents, to develop a profile for a prospective superintendent. If the board chooses to approve an advisory committee, the Gatti proposal said, the firm will work with the advisory committee, including arranging for interviews with screened applicants.
Another aspect of the search that had concerned some trustees is confidentiality. Peter Mandel told fellow board members as they were considering which firms to interview that potential applicants could be lost if they believed current employers would be contacted.
Gatti Associates quoted a cost of $14,900 plus expenses of $2,231.
Now the board has selected the firm, the Gattis will meet with trustees to review the process that will be used as well as the timeline for the search, the proposed salary and proposed contents for a brochure to announce the position. No firm date has been set for that meeting.
The proposal by the firm originally set out a timeline for board approval of the new superintendent by April 4, but the timeline also showed the process beginning last month.
It is likely, if the process follows roughly the same schedule, that the board could approve the new superintendent by the late April or May.
After the process is approved, the firm will meet with trustees, staff and community representatives to establish a profile for the position.
Superintendent Carolyn McKennan, who has been on the job for nine years, did not seek renewal of her contract, which expires June 30. Her current contract exceeds $171,000.
Trustees decided in October to request proposals from search firms; five proposals were received and reviewed, and outgoing Board President George Panos appointed a subcommittee to make a recommendation to the full board.
The subcommittee – current Board President Thomas and Trustees Mike Hickey and Kathy Sullivan – met with representatives from the five firms in San Francisco during the California School Boards Association conference earlier this month.
The board received proposals from: California School Boards Association Executive Search Services (CSBA); Leadership Associates; Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates, Ltd.; RJ Gatti Associates; and Zampi and Associates.
The subcommittee recommended narrowing down the list to two firms and bringing in representatives from those firms for the whole board to interview. CSBA and Rudy and Janet Gatti were the firms Thomas, Hickey and Sullivan recommended.
Trustees Mandel and Don Moody asked to also include Leadership Associates.
Representatives from the three firms attended a special meeting Thursday afternoon.
CSBA’s proposal quoted a price of $11,500 plus expenses for advertising, brochure printing, travel, postage, copying and phone calls.
Leadership Associates would have charged the district $24,900 with expenses included.
