Two questions have lingered on for months so the board
finally voted to seek advisory opinions:
1) Can
the two board members without conflicts negotiate the superintendent’s
contract?
In the past, contracts
have been negotiated by one or two board members. All of a sudden, certain people want to allow
the entire board to negotiate the superintendent’s contract. Six members have conflicts that should
prohibit them from negotiations. Some
past posts on the subject:
2) Can
board members and/or a personnel committee view resumes of applicants or
finalists for school positions?
The board attorney advised
that a personnel committee can only view the one resume of an individual chosen
by the superintendent for any position. The
committee was told that it cannot even see the resumes of the finalists for any
position.
Hypothetical: What if a board member’s relative is recommended
for a promotion (as it has been done so often in the past)? The board and the personnel committee would
be told that they cannot see who else applied, what their backgrounds were, or
what was listed on their resumes. The board
would vote on appointing the relative without knowing if the process was fair
or if there were better candidates.
