School board semantics

Despite appearances to the contrary, the Chico Unified School District will continue to consider Kelly Staley an interim superintendent when a new contract is approved.

The school board announced at its last meeting that it would give Staley a one-year extension and cancel plans to hire a consultant to recruit superintendent candidates. Looks like they’re keeping her—thus the headline “Superintendent loses ‘interim’ but not her way” on our Dec. 13 news story.

Jann Reed, who became board president at the same meeting, says that’s not necessarily the case.

“The school board is in the midst of an evaluation process to determine Kelly’s viability as our permanent superintendent,” Reed writes in an e-mail sent late Tuesday night. “It would be premature for us to make any changes in her title until we have completed this process . …

“We do not consider Kelly to be a place holder in the office of the superintendent. She has been given full authority by the board to conduct the business of the school district and to move forward on all actions approved by the board. At the same time we intend to be deliberate and thoughtful in our evaluation of her performance.”