Before the Park City School Board’s split vote last week to renew Superintendent Jill Gildea’s contract for two more years, she emerged as the only finalist for another job in Colorado.
It’s a question whether the board knew this, with potential contractual implications.
Colorado Early Colleges announced Tuesday that its board on Aug. 16 chose Gildea as the only remaining candidate for chief executive officer five days before a Park City board majority of members who dropped their reelection campaigns pushed through the controversial renewal on a 3-2 vote, with the only incumbents who will be on the board next year opposing.
School board President Andrew Caplan did not answer a question about whether the board knew Gildea had applied for other work. A stipulation in her 2023 contract appears to require she notify the board if she decides to seek other employment.
Instead he said Gildea “has been personally attacked by community members including yourself and your media colleagues. I hope that in your career you are never publicly vilified in the way she has been.”
He wrote in what he said was the full board’s comment: “Jill Gildea has served the children and community of Park City with distinction for six years. If she chooses to pursue employment elsewhere, the board wishes her the best of luck and thanks for her exemplary service to our schools.”
He declined to answer when asked if Gildea had told him or other board members about her search for other employment. The contract she signed in 2023 included a clause that says “Superintendent shall promptly notify the board should she elect to apply for other employment.” It’s in section 16 F, a paragraph largely devoted to what would happen if Gildea unilaterally chose to terminate her contract. The document is not readily clear whether the requirement is also true if the agreement ends through mutual agreement.
“I have made my statement,” Caplan said. “We will not be commenting further on personnel matters.”
When she voted to renew Gildea’s contract, board member Anne Peters said she did so with the consideration that the decision could save the district from a difficult search for a new superintendent. The new school board would have until Feb. 5, 2025, to notify Gildea if it did not wish to renew her contract, which would have elapsed that summer.
Colorado Early Colleges’ website post includes Gildea’s resume, answers to a series of questions, and a cover letter, which is dated June 19.
It was only a day later that Caplan first drew public pushback that started the months-long community conversation about the contract renewal when he announced that the board intended to renew her contract in August — while the departing majority could — in an interview June 20 on KPCW’s “Local News Hour.”
Other board members said he made the announcement without first consulting them.
Shortly after, community members started a Change.org petition asking the board to hold off on the decision until next year.
Board members Caplan, Peters and Wendy Crossland voted to renew the contract. All three of them began the year intending to run for another term in their positions, and all three of them dropped out of their reelection bids — Caplan and Crossland within a week of each other in May, and Peters in July.
Board members Meredith Reed and Nick Hill — who will remain on the board in 2025 — voted against the renewal, stating they wanted to wait until next year. Before the vote, all but one of the candidates for next year’s board also publicly spoke in hopes the board would leave the decision to them.
In Gildea’s new contract, which is dated Aug. 24 with her signature, there are portions that allow her to leave the agreement either through retirement, mutual agreement with the district, or if she “believes she can no longer give effective leadership to the district.”
The contract also dictates that she “agrees to give the district not less than 30 days advance written notice of her election to terminate employment.”
Otherwise, she could have to pay the district a $2,000 penalty for early termination.
Gildea has not yet responded to questions about her potential new job or if she informed the board that she was applying for new positions.
Colorado Early Colleges is a network of public charter schools in Colorado.