THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 6, 1995 TAG: 9508040192
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 16 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ALETA PAYNE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 105 lines
The Virginia Beach School Board expects to pay up to $28,000 for the services of the search firm that will help choose the city's next superintendent. And it appears the community will play a smaller role in the search than some board members initially wanted.
At Tuesday night's meeting, the board voted 8-2, with one abstention, to hire the Charlotte-based Sockwell & Associates executive search consulting firm to help find the district's sixth superintendent in eight years. Susan Jernigan, a partner with the firm who answered board members' questions during the meeting, said her company's fees would not exceed $28,000. Travel expenses for out-of-town job candidates could add an additional $8,000 to $10,000 to the total cost.
Sockwell & Associates was chosen from among 14 firms that applied for the job. In recent years, the company has conducted superintendent searches for Fulton County, Ga., Wake County, N.C., and Charlotte. It also worked for Norfolk schools in the search that landed Roy Nichols Jr.
Board Chairwoman June T. Kernutt served with member Tim Jackson and Associate Superintendent Don Peccia on the committee that ultimately interviewed two of the firms that applied.
``It was obvious to me she (Jernigan) was seasoned in this process,'' Jackson told the other board members. ``Her firm was, I believe, the cream of the crop.''
For its money, Jernigan told the board, it will get a thorough national search with her firm's recruiting of candidates who might not respond to an ad.
``It's not our feeling that people who are happy and doing well where they are spend a lot of time reading the want ads,'' she said.
All serious candidates will be thoroughly checked out. The firm will interview supporters of applicants as well as people they may have clashed with.
``Nothing would really frighten me more than a person who didn't have an enemy out there,'' Jernigan said.
The search will take about 100 days, and the board will make a selection from two or three finalists, Jernigan said.
The three board members who did not vote for Sockwell & Associates - Robert Hall, Ferdinand Tolentino and Elsie Barnes - said they had no problem with the firm but were not convinced of the need to hire outside consultants for the search.
The board also voted Tuesday to involve the community in the search by holding a public hearing and having a recently appointed citizens' committee help develop a profile of characteristics needed in a superintendent.
In an earlier meeting, several board members had favored a proposal that would have had the citizens' committee screening applications, with applicants' names removed, and narrowing the field to a dozen or so candidates. Jernigan warned the board, however, that strong candidates might be scared away from the process by concerns that their names might become public.
Board member Joseph Taylor, who helped develop the options for involving the citizens' committee, said he wanted the group to feel like a meaningful part of the process.
Jernigan assured the board that there were a number of valuable tasks that could be assigned the committee, including meeting with the final two or three candidates as ``ambassadors'' of the district. In their 7-to-4 vote approving the community's role, board members gave the search firm the option of using the committee in such a manner. Board remains mute on Celebration Station deal.
Earlier in the evening, a taut and revealing exchange between board members provided a glimpse into an internal problem previously discussed in closed session.
Hall raised concerns that matters discussed in the closed portion of meetings be kept in confidence.
He apparently was referring to a letter, sent by board member Ulysses Van Spiva to the state superintendent of public instruction and the City Council, that questioned the legality of the school district's lease agreement for Celebration Station. Spiva made no mention that school officials are trying to get out of that contract, which commits the district to renting the former mall for another two years. No money has been budgeted for the rent in that period.
The School Board apparently had discussed the letter in a previous executive session.
Hall's comments prompted Tolentino to ask, ``Why are we bringing up executive session matters again in public?''
Taylor responded that the matter needed to be discussed publicly because ``we have a problem.''
``We have a he or she member who is not willing to keep these matters confidential,'' he said.
Kernutt reminded members that they could excuse themselves at any time during an executive session if they felt a matter should be discussed in the open. Matters that may be discussed in executive session are limited by law, and include personnel issues, student discipline and property and legal negotiations.
The board members went on to reaffirm unanimously the confidentiality of executive session.
But the issue didn't die there. As the board prepared to go into executive session at the end of their public meeting, Spiva raised concerns about two of the items to be discussed - Celebration Station and litigation over indoor air quality at several schools. He said he considered both matters to be public.
Spiva agreed to go into executive session after the board's attorney said that the discussions would center on legal strategy and it would be detrimental to the city and the schools if the information were revealed to opposing legal counsel. by CNB