SVVSD’s Haddad contender for position in Nevada

Don Haddad, Superintendent of Saint Vrain Valley School District (SVVSD), is on the short list of candidates to be at the helm of Clark County School District (CCSD) in Nevada, the fifth largest school district in the country. Haddad was named as one of four finalists for the superintendent position from an initial pool of 77 applicants.

Haddad, 56, has been an educator for 33 years and progressively moved up the ladder from being a teacher to entering the administration ranks, including a stint as principal of Niwot High School. Along the way he earned numerous degrees, culminating in his Doctorate of Education in Leadership and Administration.

Haddad has headed up SVVSD since 2009 and was chosen as the National Superintendent of the Year in 2013 by the National Association of School Superintendents from over 17,000 other school district leaders.

CCSD’s Superintendent for the past five years has been Pat Skorkowsky. In December 2017, Skorkowsky announced his upcoming resignation at the end of his contract in June 2018. The announcement came amidst a financial crisis and controversy in which the school district showed a budget deficit of $60 million and a reduction in staff of over 500 positions. A job posting listed by the search firm Ray and Associates shows the new hire for this position will be paid $320,000 per year.

According the SVVSD‘s website, the district is the seventh largest in Colorado with an enrollment of 31,800 students, 77 schools, and 4,500 employees. In contrast, CCSD serves over 75 percent of the students in the state of Nevada with 320,000 enrolled students, 358 schools, and 42,000 employees.

The Las Vegas Sun newspaper reports the next steps in the process are school board interviews of each candidate and community open question forums, both of which are expected to conclude by April 16. The CCSD school board will make a formal announcement of the new superintendent on April 19.