Thursday, September 18, 2008
Miami-Dade School Board reconsidering new superintendent's contract
MIAMI (WSVN) -- The Miami-Dade School Board has placed its decision on Alberto Carvalho's contract for school superintendent on hold after some board members questioned the quickness of his hiring.
Board members took Carvalho's contract off its meeting agenda Wednesday morning, when they were scheduled to vote on it for approval. Several board members are now complaining that board never performed a formal search for candidates and did hold a proper interview. But the ultimate reason why the contract was pulled off the agenda depends on who you ask.
One board member said the contract was not ready yet and had to have some kinks worked out of it. Others said they wanted to see the process start over because Carvalho was brought in under questionable circumstances. "Where I stand is that this process was improperly done," said School Board Member Renier Diaz de la Portilla. "It was a closed process, there was no transparency. The decision was pre-arranged, predetermined, and I think we need an open process, and hopefully today, by pulling this contract, we will begin asking some of the questions that went unanswered last week."
Carvalho accepted the job as school superintendent last Friday, after he was first offered the job last Wednesday, just hours after the School Board made the decision to dismiss Superintendent Dr. Rudy Crew.
On Wednesday, Carvalho was seated on the Board at his first meeting as Miami-Dade's new superintendent when questions arose on his hasty hiring. The board did agree that Carvalho can temporarily serve as superintendent without a contract.
Crew got wind of what happened at the public meeting soon after the change in the agenda. "You know, it was fast," he said, "and I think that there are reasons to be worried when those kind of things happen in the school system, and my experience is that the whole district is better off and better served when quiet, thoughtful deliberation can be given to the appointment of a new leader. I just don't think they had done that."
Crew left the district after conflict between him and several board members came to a head during budget meetings to shave a shortfall of $250 million from the school's budget. Though they seem to agree on the hastiness of Carvalho's hiring, De la Portilla lead a call to fire Crew for gross insubordination, which failed in a 5 to 4 vote at a special meeting on July 29.
Following an August election that ousted one of Crew's supporters and continued tension between Crew and De la Portilla and other board members, Crew and the board decided to part ways. On the same day Crew received a severance package worth $400,000, the Board elected Carvalho their new interim superintendent.
Carvalho already held a deputy superintendent position in the School District, but he was also offered the Superintendent job in Pinellas County, which added to the pressure for the board to act fast. On Friday he announced his decision to take the job with Miami-Dade.
As some school board members hope to iron out a final contract for Carvalho, others want to see a search for other candidates, including considering some from outside the state.
Carvalho's future at Miami-Dade's School District may not entirely be up in the air because, according to the board's chairman, the only way to consider a replacement at this point would be to have another vote.
So far, it does not look like the majority of board members are against his hiring. Therefore, a revote would be a moot point unless someone in the majority changes his or her vote.
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