Park City School Board President Andrew Caplan announced two weeks ago on KPCW’s “Local News Hour” that the board intends to renew Superintendent Jill Gildea’s contract.
Since then, a petition asking the board to hold off until a new board is elected this fall had picked up 209 signatures as of Friday morning. Caplan and board Vice President Wendy Crossland have quit their campaigns for reelection, and board member Anne Peters is being challenged by Susan Goldberg, a former nurse.
The district can’t wait that long, Caplan said Friday.
“They will be sworn in on the first meeting of the month and have around a week to assess the performance of the superintendent and business administrator and decide on their future,” he said. “We are elected to do a job. Not everyone likes every decision that the board or administration makes over the course of a meeting, a year or a term. This is normal as inherently decisions rarely make all 4,000 plus stakeholders happy all at the same time. We appreciate all the public input, but always prefer to hear from constituents in actual dialogues on what the district can improve on rather than one-sided, semi-anonymous social media attacks.”
Along with the district showing top academic scores, Gildea’s recent tenure has included revelations of illegally stored toxic dirt, a federal investigation showing 180 documented cases of student-to-student harassment the district didn’t sufficiently address to legal standards, and a state audit that showed the district hasn’t done enough for groups of students that qualify for federal assistance.
Josh Mann and Karl Persson, who started the petition, called Caplan’s description of Gildea’s performance as “excellent” into question.
“We hold a different view of Dr. Gildea’s record, and respectfully request outgoing board members leave any potential contract renewal for the 2025 school board to decide,” the petition says. “We believe it aligns with good governance for incoming board members to make a decision on Dr. Gildea. … We also believe PCSD will benefit from finding a new superintendent who places a higher priority on transparency, accountability and following laws.”
Along with listing issues the state and nation have identified with the school district under Gildea’s watch, the petition also points to her notably large compensation and the decreasing enrollment trend in Park City Schools as reasons to delay a decision about renewing her contract. She began her tenure in August 2018. On October 1 of that year, 4,750 students enrolled in the district. On October first of 2022, that number had decreased to 4,350.
According to her contract, which was last renewed through this year in 2023, Gildea was to receive a base salary of $275,631 in 2024. She’s also given a place to live within Park City School District boundaries and a car to use as long as she remains superintendent.
Her contract also specifies that she is able to receive “performance pay” based off annual reviews the board conducts on “reviews of the academic progress of students in the district, the district’s performance against budget, the morale and good will of employees of the district” as well as other topics.
Transparent.utah.gov shows Gildea’s total wages and benefits totaled $412,201.42 in 2023. She reportedly has been the highest paid school district superintendent in Utah since she began at Park City.
The contract also stipulates the district provide Gildea with a home inside the school district and a car while she works as superintendent.
“Since hiring Dr. Gildea, the district’s student population is approaching a 20% decline. Public school funding is based on student population,” the petition states. “Spending nearly half a million dollars annually on a superintendent may be a poor financial choice.”
“There needs to be change,” Jason Selman commented. “I don’t understand how she hasn’t been fired.”
Others agreed, with several people saying Gildea is overpaid for a performance they’ve found to be lackluster.
“PCSD should be a district others strive to imitate. That only happens with bold initiatives and confident leaders,” Elaine Murray wrote. “Current leadership is underwhelming.”
Asked about the petition, Caplan stuck with the comments he made to KPCW.
“One of the board’s primary responsibilities along with setting policy and the budget is supervision of the superintendent and business administrator,” he said. “Yearly the board reviews the performance of the superintendent and makes a decision on whether to extend her rolling contract. We will be doing this review and making this decision in August when we return from break.”
He said this year’s evaluation of Gildea was assisted by Utah School Boards Association President Richard Stowell, but district policy dictates that they do not share performance reviews of any employee.
“Everyone is entitled to their opinions about the work of the superintendent and the board. This said, repeated personal attacks on her by Josh Mann are not only inappropriate but borderline harassment,” Caplan said. “He uses his blog and his writing role at the (Park City Follies) to repeatedly attack her from behind his keyboard. This has been a pattern of behavior since her arrival.”
If the board listened to the petition and waited for next year’s members before renewing the contract, Caplan said it would leave them in an “impossible position.”
Mann and Persson did not respond to requests for comment.