SCHOOL DISTRICT HIRES INTERIM SPECIAL SERVICES DIRECTOR, BUT PERMANENT CHOICE UNKNOWN

The ongoing search for a new school district special services director continued earlier this month with the appointment of an interim director by the school board, but still no word on a permanent replacement.

The board voted at its Jan. 4 reorganization meeting to appoint David S. Lieberman to the post as an interim director through June 30, 2017, at a rate of $632 per day.

He replaces departing director Ella Rideau, who announced her departure in September, but has remained on the job and will until March 1, 2017. That means the district will be paying both Rideau and Lieberman for two months and have yet to find a permanent replacement.

The district in October hired the Chicago search firm Atlantic Research Partners at a cost of $8,000 to find a permanent replacement. But after an initial round of applications, Superintendent John Ramos announced last month that the search would be re-opened. It now appears we may not have a permanent director until the end of the current school year.