In a 6-1 vote at the board meeting at Cedar Park Middle School on Dec. 11, the school board appointed former Deputy Superintendent Chris Clark as acting superintendent following Bruce Gearing’s retirement from the district. Effective immediately, Clark will assume all responsibilities of the office.
After accepting Gearing’s resignation, the board voted to appoint Clark as acting superintendent as a search for a permanent superintendent starts. Paul Gauthier was the single dissenting vote.
“It was really important for the board to try to maintain consistency and also seeability in our district because we have a lot of heavy stuff going on right now,” School Board President Anna Smith said. “And the other thing is, we wanted to make sure that we were going to preserve the fairness of the upcoming superintendent search. The board did not want to name an acting superintendent who intends to apply for the permanent position.”
“We really want someone at that spot who understands the layout of teaching and learning as we go through these budget conversations,” Smith said. “We’re gonna try to present the teaching and learning side as much as we can because that’s ultimately where our students are going to be the most impacted by.”
