School board extends Superintendent Goldhardt’s contract another three years
Goldhardt was hired in 2022. The renewal does not include a raise, but does increase vacation days. Goldhardt has presided over a budget turnaround and a major school closure.
The Albany County School Board and Superintendent John Goldhardt agreed to a contract extension that will see Goldhardt continue to helm the district for the next three years.
Goldhardt was hired in 2022 with a two-year contract and an annual salary of $170,000. The new three-year contract stipulates the same rate, but includes five additional vacation days.
“I’m really grateful for the board to extend a three-year contract,” the superintendent said. “There were some things both sides of us put forth, and then in the end, compromised, which is healthy, and I was pleased with the end result and grateful for the opportunity to continue to be part of this district [and] continue that work.”
In Goldhardt’s first two years, the district moved from a budget deficit to a $3.2 million surplus, the school board approved the closure of Beitel Elementary School, approved the establishment of the one-room Antelope Creek School in Garrett, and implemented permanent raises for both certified and classified employees.
“What I really appreciate is how people have been willing to just come together and say, ‘Okay, let’s come up with some ideas. Let’s look at all options and see what works, what doesn’t work, what’s bad, what’s good [and] things we’d rather not do, but we need to,’” Goldhardt said. “So in the end, it was highly collaborative.”
In June, the board also passed a districtwide policy, mandated by a new state law, requiring school counselors to out transgender and other queer students, even to unsupportive families. In preparing the budget for this fiscal year, the district also reduced its workforce by the equivalent of 21 full-time positions — a move that involved both incentivizing retirements and terminating the contracts of a few individual employees.
“There’s things that I’d rather have not had to deal with, but that is just what happens when you take these roles,” Goldhardt said. “You just have to expect that and do what you need to do to make it work.”
In his next three years, the superintendent said the district will continue to bring up salaries and will reorient the district to address the mental health struggles of its student body and improve communication with families.
“We’re looking forward to that next step of getting our employees’ salaries to be more competitive,” Goldhardt said. “Looking forward, a new strategic plan will be adopted in the fall … The main gist of this plan is a more learner-centered system. And we have a goal about mental health. There’s a goal about teacher support. And then a really important goal of involving our families — especially those families who have felt like they haven’t been listened to particularly well — and having an approach to where our families are included in our schools.”
The plan will also recommit the school to preparing students for a wide variety of futures.
“[We want to see] more students graduating, more students having options for post-high school experiences, whether that’s a career in technical education, higher education, certification — any of those,” Goldhardt said. “That’s their choice, and they’re all great.”
Goldhardt was a teacher, administrator and university educator in Utah, where he worked for three decades. Goldhardt also worked for three years in New Hampshire, as superintendent of that state’s largest school district. He was hired by Albany County Schools in May 2022, taking over that summer from the previous superintendent, Jubal Yennie, who resigned.
The contract extension and update was approved by the school board during its July 17 meeting, following the board’s approval of a district budget and after a roughly 35-minute executive session. The executive session was called to discuss both litigation and personnel.
Trustee Janice Marshall said she had “several concerns” about the contract extension.
“One concern is that the Wyoming Supreme Court ruled years ago that public entities cannot enter into contracts which bind future boards unless there was a specific advantage to doing so,” she said. “Another concern I have is the financial liability that we put the district in with a three-year contract. As a trustee, I take seriously my fiduciary duty to the district. I’m comfortable with two years but not three as proposed. In my opinion, if the superintendent is doing a good job, the board will continue to employ them and to extend their contract annually.”
Trustee Nate Martin asked Marshall to expand on what she meant by “financial liability” but Marshall only replied: “because it’s three years.”
Marshall said she also objected to the additional vacation days.
“Vacation days are to be used; they are not intended to be used as a raise,” she said. “In essence, the buying out contract days would be increased compensation, or raise.”
Marshall was the only holdout on the board, which voted 6-1 to amend and extend Goldhardt’s contract.