HISD switches search firm
The Houston school board’s search for a new superintendent took a step back Wednesday as trustees severed ties with the firm they selected two months ago and agreed to start fresh with another.
The district likely will be out some money, at least for expenses incurred by the Iowa-based consultants, but board President Manuel Rodriguez Jr. said he hopes the process stays on track to have a new leader on the high-profile job by July. With Superintendent Terry Grier stepping down Feb. 29, trustees chose Deputy Superintendent Ken Huewitt to serve as interim superintendent.
After hiring Ray and Associates on a split vote in December, trustees on Wednesday unanimously and without discussion chose Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates, another well-known group that
had applied for the job. According to media reports, the Illinois-based firm has faced criticism in recent months after conducting superintendent searches in Nashville, Tenn., and Minneapolis that failed to result in hires.
“We have expectations of being successful. There’s no concerns right now,” Rodriguez said after the board meeting.
Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates also is conducting a superintendent search for the Humble Independent School District, which has roughly 41,000 students, about one-fifth as many as Houston ISD. Klein ISD, on the hunt as well, turned local for consultants, hiring Houston attorney David Thompson and former Texas Education Commissioner Mike Moses. Firm has critics
HISD trustees did not cite a specific reason for splitting with Ray and Associates; the motion called for terminating the contract “upon mutual written agreement.”
However, the hiring was tainted from the outset. Trustee Jolanda Jones asked the board in December to delay picking a search firm until after she and Diana Davila took office in January.
The board first voted 7-1, with one abstention, to select Ray and Associates. Outgoing trustee Paula Harris said her vote in opposition was at the request of Jones. Later, trustee Wanda Adams asked to reconsider the motion.
“I was told not to say why publicly,” Adams said at the time. “But I do have some concerns about the firm, some information that I just found out.”
The board met behind closed doors and then publicly switched the vote to 5-4.
An Internet search shows that Ray and Associates faced high-level criticism in 2007 about the screening of a candidate for Kentucky education commissioner. Then-Gov. Ernie Fletcher wrote Ray and Associates that the state planned to withhold payment because of a “lack of thoroughness and accuracy,” online records show.
HISD and Ray and Associates took more than a month to finalize the contract.
Then, at the board’s first meeting with the firm Feb. 4, some trustees ques- tioned whether the proposed schedule allowed enough time for community input. The firm’s timeline called for three days of meetings with the public.
Gary Ray, president of Ray and Associates, said Wednesday that the schedule was flexible. The document was labeled “suggested.”
He attributed the severed relationship to turnover on the board.
“I look at it as mutual,” he said. “Our position on it is we certainly want to work for a board that wants our services.”
The contract set the firm’s fee at $37,000, plus expenses, with the first of three equal parts due after the board’s approval of the search timeline. Rodriguez said he considered the timeline tentative but was waiting for an invoice from Ray and Associates to see how much the firm believed it was owed.
The firm also had provided the district with an online survey asking teachers, parents and others what qualities they desire in a new superintendent.
The survey was the same one the firm used in at least one other district, online records show. Board in agreement
HISD officials plan to negotiate a contract with the new search firm. If the deal is set by this weekend, Rodriguez said, a representative could come as early as next week to start community meetings.
“The emphasis here is getting the right superintendent in for the district,” Rodriguez said. “If we can’t have someone in by July 1 and we need to extend the search, then that’s one of our options.”
After splitting on several major votes in recent months, trustees united Wednesday on the search firm items and on unanimously naming Huewitt as interim superintendent.
Several trustees urged Huewitt, HISD’s chief financial officer, to focus on academics as well as finances.
About one-fifth of HISD’s schools are rated low-performing.
“I think this city and I think this board want to make sure we have some stability during this interim time,” trustee Greg Meyers said. “But we also want to make sure we continue to move the needle.”