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Show A-8 The Park Record Wed/Thurs/Fri, February 14-16, 2018 Search for a superintendent Board reviews initial budget positions begins with focus groups New would focus on Firm hired by Board is gathering data with a survey CAROLYN WEBBER The Park Record Selecting a superintendent for the Park City School District is no small decision, but the multi-faceted process is moving along. District leaders say that there should be one hired by the end of the school year. The district recently selected a search consultant firm called HYA and Associates to gather information from the community and select candidates for the position. Last week, two of the search associates met with about 40 focus groups that included stakeholders such as parents, student leaders and the Park City Chamber/Bureau, as well as district staff and faculty. The associates also created an online survey that is available until Friday, Feb. 16 at 5 p.m. Once the input is received, PHOTO BY MELINDA COLTON the firm will form a “leader- Darline Robles, left, and Carmella Franco are search consultants with ship profile,” a list of desired the firm HYA and Associates that the Park City Board of Education characteristics that will be pre- hired to help with the search for a new superintendent. sented to the Park City Board of Education at its next meeting tize what the entire community 28 and conduct semi-finalist inon Feb. 27. Advertisements for needs and work from there.” terviews on May 5 and 6. A seShe said that having an out- lection will be made after a site the position are currently live. Carmella Franco, one of the side organization manage the visit and extensive background search associates, said that superintendent search makes check are completed. there are common themes that her feel more secure about the Franco said that the new susurfaced throughout the focus decision. perintendent should be ready to groups. One request was that Jerry and Gwen Gross, who step into the role on July 1. the superintendent have experi- have grandchildren in the disThe current superintendent, ence with facilities and bonds. trict, said that they hope to see Ember Conley, announced in Another theme was that they increased and improved com- December that she will be leavare able to create and maintain munication within the district. ing her position on June 30. a “world-class system” of cur- They are excited for future Franco said she has no mariculum. Meg Parker, a parent leadership to step in and con- jor concerns about the district’s in the district, attended one of tinue to guide the district. ability to find and hire a qualithe parent focus group meetFranco said that the time pe- fied superintendent. ings and said that not only is riod the district has allotted to “Every district is different,” curriculum important, but so is search for a new superinten- she said. “Park City has its consistency. dent is ideal. She and Darline uniqueness as does every other “(I want) a forward-thinking, Robles, the other search associ- district.” proactive strategic plan that ates, plan on sending a slate of The link to the survey is they don’t deviate from when five to seven finalists in April https://ecrasurvey.com/parkciWilliams.pdf direction,” 3 2/9/2018 6:45:40 to AM the Board. The Board will the wind Darchanges ty. It is available in both Spanshe said. “And that they priori- interview them on April 27 and ish and English. 1/4 Vertical Trib mental wellbeing CAROLYN WEBBER The Park Record Budget talks are underway in the Park City School District. At the Park City Board of Education meeting last week, the Board reviewed its fiscal year 2019 preliminary budget. Todd Hauber, business administrator for the district, said that the Board bumped up the timeline for its budget discussions in order to allow more time for hiring new staff members. Normally, the preliminary budget is presented at the end of the school year. Continued from A-7 Board seeks training ward to learning how to work better as a team throughout the trainings. “We want a Board where everyone feels comfortable offering opinions,” she said. “We are five very diverse people from different backgrounds who see things from different perspectives. Everybody’s perspectives need to be welcome.” She said that the Board already has been working on developing these skills and that this training will be a continuation of its work. The training with the Utah School Boards Association will help the Board learn what its role is so that it can “stay in its sandbox,” Butler said. Butler said that she has not had any governance training since coming onto the Board more than one year ago. The last time she had a training session with just the Board was Hauber said that funding for several new positions was added to the preliminary budget in order to support students in their mental health and wellbeing as well as academic success. There are a number of positions that would work directly with students, such as four Tier 3 interventionists and school social work counselors. The budget also emphasizes ensuring that a proper special education program is in place. Hauber said that there are more students who need intense services than in the past. The initial budget includes adding three special education teachers. Other new positions would be a high school academic coach, an additional nurse, an additional Latino outreach aide, a translator, addition- al bus drivers, a mechanic, an executive director of human resources and additional dual-language immersion teachers at the junior high and high school. A total of 26 full-time equivalency positions would be added, Hauber said. Since full-time equivalency counts those working full-time as one and partial positions as fractions, the total number of new employees would be more than 26. The fiscal year 2018 budget added a similar amount of positions. Hauber said that there is no talk of reducing positions within the district in the proposed budget. The preliminary net tax increase would be $5.7 million. Hauber said that there will likely be a public hearing about the budget in April. last spring. She hopes to see trainings take place more often than annually in the future. At the Board meeting in January, community members said during the public comment section that the Board should go through training because it was overstepping its boundaries. Following those comments, Superintendent Ember Conley said that turnover on the Board has caused the district to fumble and that changing direction to suit the Board has been difficult. “Being able to work together respectfully, and model that, has to be done moving forward,” she said at the meeting. “I am begging you on behalf of our district that you have a mentor.” She said that comments from community members prompted her to encourage the Board to have training. Since a new member, Erin Grady, joined the Board last week, Conley said that now is an ideal time. “Board members also need to be aware of their roles and responsibilities, educational innovations, and best practices,” she said. “A board determines the vision of the entire district, and that vision has to be what is best for all students. They need to learn to work together as one board, not five members each representing their own precincts.” She hopes that the members come away understanding their roles regarding school funding and policy setting, as well as how to communicate with one another and treat each other’s views with respect. Todd Hauber, business administrator for the district, said that Board training sessions like the one it is currently planning happen on an as-needed basis. Trainings regarding governance take place regularly. He said that, as the Board moves forward with its master planning process, it is especially important to have a cohesive and well-functioning team. “It’s important to have those other pieces in place so that we’re not infighting and we’re not bickering or pointing fingers — those types of things that are just unproductive,” he said. “In a master planning process, you need to be able to have competing ideas.” Butler is hopeful that this training will help the members be able to work together on all future initiatives. “We can always strive to be better,” she said. “I don’t think there is anything wrong with asking for help.” Get the top local stories directly in your inbox with a new weekly email update from ThePark Record. SIGN UP NOW ON PARKRECORD.COM FOR A CHANCE TO WIN TWO LIFT TICKETS TO DEER VALLEY RESORT! |