The Camp Verde Unified School District Governing Board determined a plan for filling the superintendent role going forward at its July 13 meeting.
Former superintendent Danny Howe retired early for health and personal reasons and Business Services Director Steve Hicks was appointed as interim superintendent at the governing board’s June 8 meeting.
At its meeting last week, the board discussed several options for its next steps, including hiring Hicks as the permanent superintendent or posting a job listing to hire someone else. Board President Tim Roth said Hicks has said he is willing to take on the role of superintendent on a more permanent basis should the board desire it.
Board Member Carol German was supportive of the idea of keeping Hicks in order to have stability in the coming school year.
“I think if we could find a way to keep Steve … because he’s been part of the leadership team … to me, doing something in that way would keep that continuity for right now,” she said.
However, Board Member Helen Freeman expressed concern about throwing him into a role he may not truly want.
“I have complete faith and trust in Mr. Hicks and in what we’re doing. … I hate to put him in a corner that says, ‘We want you to do this,’ and maybe he doesn’t,” she said. “He’s the kind of person that he’s going to step up and help with whatever we want to do. I’d like to give him a little flexibility.”
“I know that he likes the job that he has, and I would hate to pull him out of a job that he likes to one that maybe he doesn’t like after he’s been in it for a little bit of time. … I don’t want to force him into a position that he doesn’t want to have and then burn him out.”
The rest of the board agreed. Hicks voiced that he believes he can fill the shoes of both positions on a temporary basis by cross-training a few other district employees and having them help him with both the finance and superintendent duties that he is currently filling on his own. After a period of time, Hicks said he could let the board know if he is interested in keeping the superintendent position or staying in finance.
“I don’t think doing both jobs is helpful … but, I think we can move some people in the district as they’re doing their jobs and begin to cross-train and fill the gaps,” he said. “I think we can begin to share the load.”
The board approved of the idea, and Freeman suggested it give Hicks a month trial. German disagreed, saying she thought they needed more time and wanted to see more consistency for the coming school year.
“I think if we’re going to do it, we need to make a commitment for a little bit longer just so we can get that stability in there,” she said.
German made a motion to keep Hicks as the interim superintendent for a year’s time, assuming they can find support for him in the finance area, and allow him to decide if he wants to continue in the position at the end of the year.
Freeman voiced concern that jumping into such a long commitment might be premature as the board is not yet sure what direction they want to move in as a district.
“Somewhere along the line we have to have a direction of, this is where we’re going, here’s what we might need to do, here’s what we want … so whoever is doing this job knows where we’re headed and where we’re going, and I don’t think we’ve had that conversation yet,” she said. “Without a clear goal, a clear focus of where we’re going and what we’re doing, it’s really hard to do the job.”
The board voted 3-2 against German’s motion. Simbric then made a motion to give Hicks one month to form a team to fill both positions at which time the board will meet to make a job offer to Hicks as well as any additional team members he deems necessary.
German was the only council member to voice concern about the plan but voted “yes” anyway.
“I don’t like the instability of that, I just want to make that clear,” she said. “I think as we begin the year, I’d like to see a more comprehensive timeframe there, but anyway, I’ll say ‘aye.’”
The motion was passed unanimously.
