Josh Mann and Karl Persson, who have children in the district, say Park City School District Superintendent Jill Gildea’s contract contains an automatic renewal provision that’s against Utah law.
Gildea was hired in 2018 and each year her contract had the same renewal agreement: the board would notify Gildea by Feb. 1 each year if it planned to renew her contract for another two years. Without written notice, the contract would automatically expire at the end of its term, or when a successor was appointed.
That changed in 2023.
Gildea’s most recent contract contains an automatic renewal clause. It states the board will notify the superintendent by Feb. 1, 2025, if the board doesn’t intend to renew. Otherwise, the contract will automatically renew at the end of its term.
Persson said, according to Utah code, auto-renewals in superintendent contracts are not allowed.
“It's pretty clear from a layperson's perspective that a contract can't include an auto-renewal clause there, and it does,” he said. “There's certainly some legal questions here.”
The code states a school board and superintendent “may not, on or after May 10, 2011, enter into an employment contract that contains an automatic renewal provision with the superintendent.”
Board President Andrew Caplan said, after speaking with legal counsel, the district plans to remove the automatic renewal language this year with the new contract.
“The advice we've been given since then is not to have that language in there,” he said. “I think it was meant as simplification, and we're now going to take that out just because we think that it's a bit confusing and it's a bit misleading that it implies that there's a perpetual contract, which is certainly not the case.”
Mann and Persson also created a Change.org petition requesting Gildea’s contract not be considered for renewal until voters elect new board members in November and they take office next year.
Three of the five board seats will be on the ballot this November. Caplan, board Vice President Wendy Crossland and board member Anne Peters, have ended their campaigns for reelection. Mann said this makes the board members “lame ducks,” and that, according to Utah code, they can’t make contract decisions.
Mann acknowledged the code focuses on a period of time after Election Day, but said it could still apply as it’s clear three board members will not remain on the board.
“We feel that the intent of the legislature is in that law is saying those people who are no longer going to be part of the school board should not be the people making the decision on a contract,” he said.
However, the referenced code states “the local school board may not appoint a superintendent during an ‘interim vacancy period.’” That period begins on the day of the general election to elect a school board member and ends on the day the new member begins their term. In this case, Nov. 5, 2024, to Jan. 21, 2025.
According to the code, board members would only be “lame ducks” during the period after an election, so after Nov. 5. Further, the code does not specifically mention contract renewal, it only prohibits appointment.
KPCW has reached out to the Utah State Board of Education and the Utah School Board Association for clarification on the code and to Mann for clarification on his stance.
Meanwhile, Caplan said the members were elected to do a job, including supervising the superintendent, and will continue to serve until the new board takes over.
“If we are to neglect our responsibilities, we will not be doing the job that our constituents have elected us to do," he said. "There is nothing in law or statute or code that says that because I have chosen not to run again that I should no longer act as a school board member.”
Caplan said the district’s legal counsel has made it clear it’s the board's job to decide whether to renew the superintendent’s contract every year.
He told KPCW in June the board intends to keep Gildea for another two years.
The board is expected to vote Tuesday, Aug. 20.
