Board consent includes $18,000 superintendent mentor contract to provide outside thought partner

The board approved a contract to retain a superintendent mentor and consultant to support the district’s new superintendent. The consulting arrangement was described during the consent‑agenda discussion as a thought‑partnership role rather than a classical coach.

Superintendent Tom Bennett explained the board had requested an updated evaluation process for the superintendent, and that the mentoring work aligns with a two‑year guarantee clause in the district’s prior search work with Leadership Associates: the guarantee requires superintendent goals and a six‑month written evaluation if the district needs to re‑engage the search firm. Bennett said he sought “a thought partner” who can provide best practices and be available for phone consultation, advise on organizational structure and help the district implement improvements; he told trustees the consultant, Dr. Singh, also works as a professor and consultant for many small districts.

Bennett acknowledged the cost — “Look, dollars 18,000, I understand, is a lot of money” — and said the price includes travel and expenses. He told trustees he had penciled in a September 25 visit for the consultant to work on the district’s organizational structure and said routine phone availability beyond in‑person visits was included in the engagement. Trustees included the consultant contract in the consent items the board approved that evening.

What this means: the consultant will support superintendent development and district planning as described; trustees and staff framed the work as advisory and intended to inform, rather than as a policy‑making action. The board approved the contract through the consent agenda and did not extend an independent study item on the contract during the meeting.