The Lagunitas School District could soon hire its
own superintendent and business manager after years of relying on Marin’s
Office of Education for a parttime superintendent, several school board
trustees said this week.
While emphasizing that no decisions have been made
and that discussions are still in progress on administrative restructuring
for the 2006-2007 school year, the trustees said that ideally the district
would find its own, on-site superintendent to replace current superintendent
Mary Buttler, who has been "on loan" from the county’s
Office of Education since 2000.
But it remains to be seen whether the school district
– one of the poorest in the county – can afford to hire its
own personnel.
"What any people would like is to have all their
own people in place," said trustee Denise Bohman. "We don’t
know that that’s a financial possibility."
District finances
County employee Buttler took over the Lagunitas School
District in a time of fiscal crisis, and over the years has nursed it
back to relative financial health, building a large budgetary reserve.
But county oversight of school district budgeting has been pegged by
some as overly conservative, and criticized by teachers who say that
money held in reserve should be used to increase their salaries (the
district’s teachers are currently the lowest-paid in the county).
"My point of contention with the county office
is because they are an oversight agency, they are overly conservative
in their projections," trustee Kelly O’Connor said. "It’s
kind of like asking an IRS investigator to do your taxes."
County education officials could not be reached for
comment.
Bohman said that Buttler, who also works as a parttime
superintendent for two other school districts, had given "170 percent"
serving schools in the San Geronimo Valley. Trustee Stephanie O’Brien
likewise praised Buttler for shepherding the district out of dire financial
straits, but said that a new period of stability could signal the need
for new priorities.
"Mary Buttler was brought in a couple of years
ago to really get our fiscal house back in order," O’Brien
said. "She’s done a very good job, and now it’s time
to move to a different type of leadership."
Supe-sharing likely
The most likely scenario for a new administration
would require sharing a superintendent with one other school district,
trustees said (the new superintendent would be an employee of the Lagunitas
School District, however, and not of the county). The district’s
current principal, Annie Nicksic, would remain in place. Trustees said
that the chances of hiring a new on-site business manager in addition
to a superintendent were slim, because of limited funds.
Trustees would not comment on whether they had anyone
in mind at this point for the new positions, should they become available.
Bohman said that the ideal new superintendent would stand behind the
district’s alternative approach to schooling and be ready to support
families and teachers as they dealt with such issues as compliance with
federal education standards (Lagunitas has been labeled a "failing
school district" because of low student participation in standardized
tests).
Although Buttler’s contract lasts through the
end of June, trustees have a little more than a month left to decide
whether they will be hiring a new administration for next year, since
they must notify the county Office of Education by mid-March if they
will be needing personnel "on loan."
Trustees will hold a public meeting on administrative
restructuring for the coming school year at 4 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 2,
in the conference room at the Lagunitas School.