Urban superintendent salaries

■ Michelle King, Los Angeles Unified School District: $350,000.

■ Pat Skorkowsky, Clark County School District: $280,788.

■ Forrest Claypool, Chicago Public Schools: $250,000.

■ Tom Boasberg, Denver Public Schools: $236,220.12.

Board will eventually get to choose from four to five highly qualified applicants.

“I think the process of how we get there is going to be ultimately very, very important,” she said. “I think that we’re going to have to have this group really doing some serious recruiting.”

Fighting turnover

The School Board will also need to find a leader who’s willing to stick around for at least five years, the amount of time experts say superintendents need in order to implement real change.

Yet the average tenure of an urban superintendent is just over three years, according to a 2014 study by the Council for Great City Schools.

Since 2000, however, Clark County School District leaders have tended to stay longer than the average. When he retires in June, Skorkowsky will have served five years.

Once the district hires a search firm, it will work with both the firm and the community to define the characteristics needed in the district’s next leader.

Contact Amelia Pak-harvey at apak-harvey@reviewjournal. com or 702-383-4630. Follow @ Ameliapakharvey on Twitter.