Park City School District Superintendent Offered Colorado Job

Jill Gildea, the current superintendent of the Park City School District who recently announced her intention to retire from the school board, was offered a position as executive director of Colorado Early Colleges by its board of directors Friday night.

The board of directors of the public charter school group voted unanimously on the decision after deliberating in executive session to discuss personnel matters regarding the CEO nominee and legal advice regarding her hiring.

Several board members said that while they were skeptical of Gildea at first, given comments they had heard from people who worried she might not be a good candidate — including from people in Utah — their interactions with her eventually eased their concerns.

Terry McDonald, vice chairman of the board, said he and board chair Laura Calhoun had initially planned to run multiple candidates for the board, but Gildea’s qualifications distinguished her enough from the other candidates that they decided she would be the only one to run. That decision, he said, drew criticism from other board members.

Yet even board member Fesehaye Abrhaley — who presented himself as the last holdout — has changed his mind.

Board member Arthur Cyphers said when he first heard about Gildea, he had some questions about her resume that he wanted to clarify.

After speaking and meeting with her, he “was fully satisfied.”

“I am now fully convinced that Dr Gildea is the person to whom we should make this offer,” he said.

On September 19, Gildea participated in a public forum with Calhoun and McDonald.

They discussed Gildea’s career, educational philosophy, staff training and other experiences.

Gildea said she was interested in the Colorado position because of the organization’s emphasis on career and technical education and individual learning experiences.

When Calhoun asked Gildea what the worst mistake she made in her career was and what she learned from it, the Park City superintendent said everyone makes mistakes and needs grace and talked about how, in the past, she moved into new positions too eager to change things.

The public charter school group voted for Gildea as the sole candidate for the position on Aug. 16, and they publicly announced their decision and posted her candidacy on Aug. 27 on a webpage that is no longer available.

Between the Colorado caucus’ vote on her candidacy and the announcement of its decision, the Park City school board voted 3-2 to renew her contract on Aug. 21. Those who approved the decision — Andrew Caplan, Wendy Crossland and Anne Peters — all dropped their bids for re-election this year and will no longer be on the board in January. The two who opposed it — Meredith Reed and Nick Hill — wanted to wait for their newly elected peers next year before making the decision.

None of the board members have publicly confirmed or denied whether Gildea informed them she was looking for a new job, which she was required to do under her contract with the district.

On September 16, Gildea sent a letter to Park City School District members informing them of her intention to retire from the district after six years as superintendent. The following day, she made her intention official at the district’s board meeting. Board members named Treasure Mountain Middle School Principal Caleb Fine as interim superintendent.

Gildea has become a polarizing figure within the community, with some criticizing his leadership when upset by the problems the district has faced during his tenure.

Others think people are too hard on her.

Since his hiring in 2018, the district has illegally stored toxic soil on school property, been investigated for widespread student-on-student harassment, some of which the district failed to adequately address according to an investigation by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, and was the subject of a state audit in fall 2023 that found the organization was failing to provide assistance to students eligible for federal aid.

During those six years, the district also managed to be one of the best in Utah to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, was ranked fifth best in Utah by U.S. News & World Report and made the College Board Honor Roll for its high school enrollment in Advanced Placement courses.