LIABILITY

private meetings.

Yost’s office has declined to elaborate on what expenses the board members might have to repay, but the search firm is the largest expense to date.

Documents show that Hazard Young Attea and Associates has billed the district four times for fees

and expenses totaling $52,935. Their contract was for $50,000 plus expenses, and district spokesman Scott Varner couldn’t say Monday whether the firm is due any more money for the search, which has been ongoing since this past fall.

Neither the district nor the search firm paid for any travel expenses of any candidates it interviewed for the superintendent’s job, Varner said.

The board members are scheduled to hold a public

meeting Tuesday to discuss for the first time Yost’s letters informing them that their entire search is void and must be redone.

A remedy for violating the Open Meetings Act “is to begin the search process anew to avoid potential financial losses for the district and individual board members,” Yost wrote. “I recommend you commence this promptly.”

The board voted 4-3 March 20 to reject a resolution proposed by member Mary

Jo Hudson that would have followed Yost’s advice. Voting to immediately scrap the search were Hudson, Dominic Paretti and Eric Brown. Voting against were President Gary Baker, Vice President Michael Cole, W. Shawna Gibbs and Ramona Reyes.The resolution documented a series of secret decisions made by the board in private meetings, including: winnowing the list of superintendent candidates during multiple private meetings; adding new candidates that

were unknown to the public; interviewing eight candidates secretly, four of whom never applied for the job; selecting finalists; and changing the finalist list when two secret candidates dropped out.

The board is not expected to vote to hire a new superintendent Tuesday. Only one finalist remains on the board’s list from the search: acting Superintendent John Stanford.