At a July 20 special meeting, the Woodland Park School District RE-2 Board of Education decided to create a matrix that includes Chief of Staff Del Garrick and Chief Operations Officer Tina Cassens and support staff to run district operations, at least temporarily, following the WPSD superintendent Mathew Neal’s transition out of the position.

After July 31, Neal will become a consultant to WPSD and no longer be authorized to run the district’s day-to-day operations.

Creating the matrix option puts the district in a position to prepare for the coming school year and it gives the board time to decide whether to hire an interim superintendent quickly or to seek a permanent superintendent during the usual hiring cycle that starts in late November.

At a special meeting July 6, the board appointed Board Vice President David Illingworth and board director Cassie Kimbrell to work with district staff to create a short-term option for the district’s day-to-day operations.

Both Garrick and Cassens have shared duties in the past, including when former superintendents Jed Bowman and Steve Woolf left their roles.

They said they were ready with a plan to share duties again — a plan that both Illingworth and Kimbrell fully endorsed.

Garrick will supervise human resources, business services, public relations, operations, and the health team. Cassens will supervise data and assessment, student and special services, grants, liaison duties to the school board and the Pikes Peak Board of Cooperative Educational Services, the District Accountability Committee and principal evaluation.

Several staff members will be moved into support positions, which will include a new administrative assistant position, and both Cassens and Garrick will be co-liaisons to the Merit Academy Charter School.

Before Aug. 1, WPSD attorney Brad Miller, with help from Neal and others, will draw up a memorandum of understanding outlining Garrick and Cassens’ extra duties, responsibilities, and compensation, using 25% of the salary the district would be paying a superintendent. Neal will sign the document as one of his last official duties, and Garrick and Cassens will be ready to go before the school year starts next month.

Neal suggested that the rest of the superintendent salary be used for the search. He suggested that the district hire McPherson & Jacobson Executive Recruitment and Development LLC as its search facilitator.

Some members of the board wanted to discuss other items but both Neal and Miller pointed out that the special meeting agenda was limited only to deciding on a “short-term superintendent leadership solution.”

Discussion about the board’s upcoming retreat, hiring a consultant and other items will wait until the Aug. 10 regular meeting.

All five of the directors thanked Garrick and Cassens for stepping up for the duration. They also thanked Neal for his hard work.

Neal thanked everyone and wished them well.

“It has been a privilege to serve these students and this district,” he said. “I was brought here for the right reason and in the right season.”

For the July 20 special meeting, the Woodland Park RE-2 School District’s large meeting room was left in the configuration the Board of Education usually uses during work sessions.

Norma Engelberg, Pikes Peak Courier