Bill proposes public meetings on school leader contracts

• Reprints

Washington

Updated: February 18, 2012 8:12AM

Indiana school districts would have to hold public meetings on proposed superintendent contracts under a bill going through the Indiana General Assembly.

A handful of Northwest Indiana school districts, including Gary Community School Corp., Portage Township Schools and Kankakee Valley School Corp., are searching for new superintendents.

The bill, which is scheduled for a second reading Tuesday in the Indiana House, requires districts to hold the meeting and hear public testimony at least seven days before the school district enters into the contract.

Under House Bill 1205, the district’s governing board would need to set out the monetary value of the proposed contract, including benefits and other forms of compensation at the meeting.

The bill, which would take effect on July 1, also limits superintendent contracts to two years and requires the governing board to post the contracts on school district websites.

“I have no problem with the public knowing how much school boards are spending on superintendent contracts,” Gary School Board president Darren Washington said. “I think it’s very important the public knows where tax dollars are going.”

The Gary School Board voted against renewing current Superintendent Myrtle Campbell’s contract in September and launched a search process to find her replacement.

State Rep. Vernon Smith, D-Gary, called a two-year contract “foolish.” Smith, who sits on the House Education Committee, plans to vote against the bill. He agrees with the transparency it aims at establishing but feels the mechanics of the bill aren’t doable.

Smith said the bill requiring a public meeting before the contract is finalized puts the prospective superintendent in an awkward position.

“They are not going to notify their present employer until they know the contract is signed and finished,” Smith said.

Portage Township Superintendent Mike Berta, who is retiring at the end of June, supports the notion of a public meeting that reviews the details of a superintendent contract.

But Berta said the legislation could lead to a public interview process that contradicts the sensitive nature of selecting a new superintendent.

“For whatever reason there are those who attend the public meeting ... because of some history, maybe an adversarial relationship with the person being considered,” Berta said. “At the public meeting they’ll say things they’re going to say and that dialogue results in potentially all kinds of issues for that person.”

Berta also maintained one of the most important functions of a school board is identifying a superintendent to run the district.

“If a board is charged with that responsibility,” Berta said, “then the language of this bill I think becomes somewhat of an obstacle of the board doing the job it was elected to do.”