With Caryn Gibson, the current superintendent of Delta Schools, announcing her retirement, the School Board has begun its effort to find a qualified candidate to replace her.
In the first step of its process, the School Board recruited a consulting firm to find candidates for the job. To decide between the four firms that were considered, each member of the board rated each one between zero and 100, and the board took the average rating for each firm.
However, despite receiving the highest average rating, the board overlooked the firm McPherson & Jacobson (M&J), opting for Caldwell instead.
Caldwell has completed eight similar job searches in Colorado to M&J’s 91, according to the search proposals given to the board. Caldwell may have recruited nine; however, redaction prevents one “previous relevant search” from being seen. Caldwell’s proposal is heavily redacted. Two pages, including their titles and entries in the table of contents, are completely obscured.
David Skarka, the district’s legal counsel, said, “The proposal from Caldwell has been partially redacted to preserve ‘trade secrets, privileged information, [or] confidential commercial, [or] financial’ information pursuant to section 24-72-204(3)(a)(IV), C.R.S.”
Caldwell’s proposal is also more costly for the district. M&J’s “not to exceed amount” or maximum cost is $20,915. Instead of a flat fee, Caldwell charges 25% of the executive’s salary. In Delta’s case, the superintendent’s salary range is $185,000 to $220,000, meaning Caldwell’s maximum cost is $55,000. Both Caldwell and M&J give 12-month replacement guarantees for the candidate they pick.
Caldwell offered the district a payment plan of three installments, the first due at the beginning of their search, the second 30 days later, and the final one 30 days after that.
Caldwell and the board have begun the search process, and the job description for superintendent was posted on the Delta County School District website on January 30. Candidates will go through interviews with consultants, board members, and community members before becoming finalists for the job.
