The three Park City School Board members who quit their reelection campaigns in spring and summer formed a majority on Tuesday to approve a new two-year agreement with Superintendent Jill Gildea, even though the other two current board members and three out of four candidates for the board have publicly asked them to leave such a decision to them next year.
The contract passed 3-2, with each of the board members whose terms will end this year — Andrew Caplan, Wendy Crossland and Anne Peters — voting in favor.
The newest members, Reed and Nick Hill, voted no.
“I would prefer that was a decision made by the incoming board,” Hill said.
“I would second that,” Reed agreed.
The majority said they saw things differently.
“I would just, having been here for seven years, be really mindful of change and how it’s executed,” Peters said. “My preference would be to allow the three new board members to get up to speed and assess the situation for themselves and then make a better decision.”
Crossland agreed that the new board should take time to assess the district as elected officials before deciding whether to decide on renewing Gildea’s contract.
Though the new agreement is for two years, she said it contains language that allows the board to cancel the contract early.
The new document has not yet been publicly released, but Gildea’s current contract specifies that if the board decides to terminate the agreement before the end of its term, they must give her a full year of compensation and benefits. She’s the highest-paid superintendent in the state.
Crossland also stressed that the process to find a solid superintendent takes a year or two, and she opted to keep the district in a stable place.
“It’s a decision that we make and I make based on a multitude of factors,” she said. “I’ve heard both sides.”
Caplan criticized critics of the superintendent and other personnel within the district. He said people should refrain from personal attacks no matter how badly they think someone has messed up.
“What I would ask the community,” he said, “is to have some civility and some class, and for someone to get on the radio and say things that are only partially accurate or partially true, and have people demand that’s the right thing to do without sitting here in this seat without volunteering thousands of hours, without taking into account other stakeholders, it’s a bit foolhardy.”
Despite disagreements, he emphasized that he thinks Park City is still a great place to live.
“We all came here for people and a good community, and let’s not change that,” he said. “Let’s not have that be the narrative because it gets clicks on KPCW or The Park Record. Let’s not allow the press to influence how we act towards each other.”
The vote completed a vow Caplan made in June, after quitting his campaign for reelection the previous month. He declared in an interview on KPCW’s “Local News Hour” that the board intended to renew Gildea’s contract.
Since then, board member Meredith Reed has said he made the statement without consulting with her, or to her knowledge, any other board members.
Ten days after Caplan’s broadcasted comments, community members started a Change.org petition asking the board to leave the decision to next year. As of Tuesday, the district voted on the issue, the online petition had 520 signatures.
Had they left the decision up to the next year’s board, the new members would have had a month to determine whether they wanted to renew or terminate the district’s relationship with Gildea according to the terms of the contract, which may violate a 2011 state law against automatic renewal clauses.
Kathleen Britton, a candidate for Crossland’s position, and Eileen Gallagher, who is running unopposed for Caplan’s seat, declined to comment after the vote.
Formerly, Britton was the only candidate who hadn’t publicly urged the board to delay the vote.
Her opponent, Danny Glasser, didn’t hesitate to share his thoughts.
“I am disappointed that the board has collectively chosen to take this important decision away from the next board,” he said.
He explained he didn’t see an urgent need to approve the contract, and thought the lame duck majority’s action was unjustified.
Susan Goldberg, who is running unopposed to replace Peters, saw the decision as an example of the board going against the will of the community.
“I am not surprised,” she said. “Andrew Caplan told us what he was going to do in spite of community objections, board member objections both past and present and, most importantly, performance concerns. It is disappointing to say the least.”
Josh Mann, one of the organizers of the Change.org petition, was also disappointed.
“We didn’t get the outcome we had hoped for, but we love that the community spoke,” he said. “Unfortunately, a majority of the school board ignored public opinion. I guess the board thought they knew better than the community.”
Since being hired in 2018, Gildea has been criticized by the community as the district has faced several issues during her time as superintendent, including illegally storing toxic dirt, beginning construction projects without appropriate permits, 180 cases of student-to-student harassment — some of which the district didn’t adequately resolve to legal standards — and a state audit that showed the district lacked in helping groups of students qualifying for federal assistance.
At the same time, the district has been academically rigorous and last school year was ranked as Utah’s fifth best, according to U.S. News & World Report. It also found a place on the College Board’s honor roll for promoting access to Advanced Placement Courses to traditionally underrepresented and low-income students.
“I am honored to continue serving our community and leading our district through these transformative times,” Gildea said after the vote. “We have achieved remarkable successes and will continue our efforts. … One thing is clear — we all want the best learning experiences and opportunities for our community’s children in schools where there is a deep sense of connection and belonging.”