The Clark County School District Board of Trustees is looking for the person who will lead the district into its next chapter.
Superintendent Pat Skorkowsky will have led the nation's fifth-largest district for five years when he retires in June. He first announced his retirement in September.
Deanna Wright, the school board president, says the right candidate will continue to increase graduation rates and the number of students in Advanced Placement classes.
He or she must also understand the financial and legal sides of administration.
Wright doesn't think it'll be a problem recruiting top talent despite Nevada's low ranking in education.
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"We have a lot of good things going on so we need somebody that can see both sides of the coin and is excited about the work," she said.
The incoming superintendent will also have to work inside the framework of the district's reorganization plan that decentralizes power and gives more control to principals and individual school communities.
CCSD has more than 320,000 students in its 358 schools. There are more than 42,000 employees, including 18,000 teachers.
Skorkowsky has faced budget issues in his last school year in office. The current operating budget for the district is $2.44 billion. Funding for the district comes 40.1 percent from local sales tax, 32.7 percent state funding, 18.7 percent property tax funding, 5.2 percent government services tax and 3.3 percent opening fund balance.
CCSD is holding a series of meetings this week to gauge the public's opinion on the new superintendent. Interested community members can also participate in an online survey -- English and Spanish.
The anticipated timeline for the search:
- Feb. 8: Trustees to finalize the superintendent profile for job description.
- March 15: Deadline for all application materials.
- Week of April 9: First round of interviews for top candidates.
- Week of April 16: Optional second round of interviews of finalists.
The goal is to have a superintendent hired by April with the superintendent starting in June.
Ray and Associates has been hired to conduct the superintendent search.
