Earlier this week the school board quickly and unanimously moved to make Caleb Fine the district’s interim superintendent.
A graduate of Park City High School, Fine has worked in the district for 15 years, most recently as principal of Treasure Mountain Junior High.
He replaces Jill Gildea, who served as superintendent for six years. Numerous incidents during her tenure were the subject of community criticism, including a federal civil rights investigation, stop work orders, and the illegal storage of contaminated soils on campus.
Gildea announced her retirement in a letter to staff Monday, weeks after the board approved a two-year extension of her contract in a split vote.
In August she was named the sole finalist to serve as the leader of Colorado Early Colleges, a K-12 charter school network. The school system’s board is scheduled to vote whether to offer Gildea the job on Friday.
As interim superintendent, Fine says he hopes to ease tensions during the transition.
“We want the community to heal, we really do,” Fine said. “We want people to have confidence in this district collectively across the board, because our parents are giving us these priceless children of infinite worth, of immeasurable value, so we want to be available to them. We want to hear from them and we want to move forward.”
Fine said Dr. Gildea has offered her support during the interim period. He didn’t comment on whether he would apply to serve as superintendent permanently.
School board member Wendy Crossland says the entire board is confident Fine is the best person to lead the district at this time.
“He’s an outwardly facing leader,” Crossland said. “His knowledge of the school already and the staff and the connections he has and the relationships he has, it’s an important moment for that skill and that type of leadership and we’re really, really grateful that he was willing to do this.”
Crossland says Gildea will move out of the school district-owned home in Jeremy Ranch as stipulated by her contract.
“That is an investment that this district made years ago as something that could potentially be used to help attract good candidates,” she said. “We know the housing prices here are really, really high and it’s nice that we can have this as part of a potential package for somebody that the next board can look for.”
She says the school board plans to wait until next year to begin searching for a permanent superintendent. That’s because there are three open seats on the board up for election this November. All three incumbents, including Crossland, are not seeking reelection.
