SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO : Board Delays Hiring New Superintendent

Saying it wants to have more time to screen candidates, the Capistrano Unified School District board has delayed hiring a new superintendent for at least four weeks.

The board of trustees said in November that it would hire a successor to Jerome R. Thornsley this week, but it will be at least Feb. 28 before an announcement is made. Thornsley is retiring June 30 after 16 years with the district.

Board President Paul B. Haseman said the delay was caused by an extra public hearing the board held in December, two weeks after the last scheduled hearing. Community groups asked for the extra hearing so they could have more say in the selection.

“We then didn’t want to hurry up and pick somebody because of (an artificial) deadline that we had set,” he said. “We want to make sure we have the right person and not get stuck with somebody we’re not happy with.”

Ira Krinsky, whose Los Angeles firm is being paid $25,000 to conduct a search for candidates, said more than 50 people have applied for the job. He said he could not release their names.

“But it is a very strong pool of candidates,” Krinsky said. “We have also made calls to more than 100 people to try to get them interested.”

Krinsky said he will give a confidential report to the board at its Feb. 4 meeting detailing the candidates and their qualifications.

One critic of the search has been Ric Stephenson, president of Capistrano Unified Education Assn., the teachers’ union. He said the board should have formed an interview committee that included teachers to meet the candidates, instead of having board members conduct the interviews.

“We realize that ultimately it is the board that has to make the decision (on whom to hire), but it says a lot about our board that it refuses to let the classroom educators be involved in the process,” he said.

Krinsky, who specializes in recruiting superintendents, said few districts allow teachers to sit on selection committees. He said the teachers had their chance to speak out at a special meeting he held with them last month.