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Union and students urge board to include staff and students, question consultant costs
Summary
Union representatives and students told the board they want guaranteed staff and student participation in the superintendent search and urged caution about hiring an outside consultant given tight school-year budgets.
Public commentators addressed the board during the designated public‑comment period, asking for clear representation of employee and student voices in the search and raising concerns about consultant fees.
Brad Der, identified in the transcript as "president‑elect of SEA," spoke for the union and asked for union representation on interview committees while warning that paying consultants "that cost as much as an employee" could create optics problems during an anticipated round of budget cuts. He asked the board to ensure staff had opportunities to give feedback and to be included on panels.
One student, Oneita Cazarus, identified herself as a senior and said the student body would welcome a superintendent familiar to the district and community. Shelby Gagnet, introduced as a middle‑school "student success toa" in the transcript, urged the board to weigh consultant costs against the district's limited classroom consumable budget, noting, "our schoolwide consumable budget this year was $5,000 for 347 students, 30 staff members."
Board members acknowledged the concerns and discussed both the optics and practical tradeoffs of consultant engagement, saying the board could design a process that includes internal candidates and still seek external applicants if needed.
The board did not adopt formal limits on consultant use at the meeting; instead members asked staff and the soon-to-be-formed committee to ensure broad stakeholder participation and to be mindful of budget optics when deciding whether to hire outside help.
