APS sticks with firm despite criticism
HYA has been panned for not suitably vetting candidates
The Albuquerque Public Schools Board of Education will use education consulting firm Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates in its superintendent search despite criticism about the firm’s vetting process in the past.
At a meeting Wednesday, board members defended their initial decision, made earlier this week, to move forward with HYA and staff assured that state statute was followed in the proposal and determination process.
The Journal found that school districts have criticized HYA’s screening of applicants and the firm has presented controversial picks in the past. Among other reported incidents in school districts, when a Minneapolis school board used HYA in 2015, it ended up relaunching the search with a different firm after complaints surfaced surrounding its superintendent pick.
Glenn “Max” McGee, president of the
search firm, said processes have been reviewed and changed in recent years to improve the vetting process. He also said the firm conducts about 60 searches annually and has a successful record.
APS board president David Peercy said he looked into the firm after the Journal report and found success stories, pointing to two examples from Houston and Boulder.
“Searches are not all the same,” he said. “We’re going to do an awful lot of investigation. We’re going to do a lot of review.”
Peercy also argued that if the firm were not regularly successful it wouldn’t be in business.
At Wednesday’s meeting, the board voted unanimously to go with HYA.
Board members initially decided to move forward with HYA at a finance meeting on Monday, despite unanswered questions at the time. For instance, when members asked where the company was based, the evaluation committee member could only say it was an out-of-state company.
On Wednesday, Rennette Apodaca, executive director of procurement, said that HYA’s proposal was measured based on APS’ scope of work and she fully backed the RFP determination process. She also said references that were provided by the firm were positive.
According to APS documents, Illinoisbased Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates scored 10.5 out of 15 for its references.
The contract is expected to be for one year with an estimated cost of $55,595 in operational funds, according to a district brief.
APS is in the process of filling a seat that will be left by Raquel Reedy once she retires in June.
Reedy took the reins from divisive Superintendent Luis Valentino, who had a tumultuous and short-lived tenure. Valentino was at the center of several scandals, including handpicking a deputy who was facing child sex assault charges in Denver. That deputy was not properly vetted with a mandatory criminal background check that would have flagged issues.
A new APS report shows the top characteristics the community wants to see in APS’ next leader are someone who puts the needs of the students first and a background in education.