Montezuma-Cortez School District RE-1 Board of Education Packet Summary — 2026-08-20
Meeting: Special Meeting Agenda - Aug 20 2026
Scheduled: Thursday, August 20, 2026, at 6:00 PM
Location: District Administration Office, Board Room, 400 North Elm Street, Cortez, CO 81321
The Board of Education is scheduled for a special meeting centered on a leadership transition following Superintendent Eddie Ramirez's immediate resignation. The two principal action items are appointing an interim superintendent and deciding whether to use a consulting firm for the search for a new superintendent.
Key Items on the Agenda
Appointment of an Interim Superintendent
The board is scheduled to consider appointing an interim superintendent. The packet includes Superintendent Eddie Ramirez's resignation letter dated August 18, 2026, in which he states that his resignation is effective immediately.
Ramirez writes that he is stepping away after 47 years of continuous service to public education to devote more time to his family. He also describes work undertaken during his four years in Montezuma-Cortez involving finance, facilities, transportation, child nutrition, school safety, academics, organizational alignment, and accountability.
The packet does not identify a proposed interim superintendent or provide proposed compensation or employment terms for an interim appointment.
Superintendent Search Consulting Firm
The board is also scheduled to consider and take action on whether to use a consulting firm in its search for a new superintendent. The agenda identifies representatives from the Colorado Association of School Boards (CASB) and Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates (HYA) as joining the meeting by Zoom.
The packet includes information about the CASB/HYA executive-search partnership and a proposed Master Services Agreement under which the district could procure a national superintendent search. The materials state that CASB previously conducted a competitive bid process and selected HYA, allowing member districts to use the negotiated agreement without conducting a separate request-for-proposal process.
Proposed Superintendent Search Services
The HYA materials describe a search process spanning engagement, recruitment, candidate selection, and leadership transition.
Proposed services include:
- Maintaining a board portal throughout the search.
- Conducting a planning meeting and developing a search timeline.
- Coordinating an online community survey, if desired.
- Providing up to eight in-person focus groups and four virtual focus groups to gather constituent input.
- Developing a leadership profile using survey results, interviews, and other information.
- Advertising the position and recruiting through state and national networks.
- Interviewing candidates, conducting reference checks, and identifying qualified candidates.
- Presenting a candidate slate and assisting the district with semifinalist and finalist interviews.
- Offering and coordinating investigative background checks.
- Supporting the transition after a new superintendent is employed.
- Providing the HYA Transition Academy and the CASB/HYA superintendent evaluation process for the new superintendent's first year.
The agreement states that HYA would assist the district with placement of a qualified interim superintendent and then begin the superintendent search at no additional fee.
Major Financial Items
The proposed agreement sets the district's base search fee at 15% of the newly hired superintendent's salary, not to exceed $23,500.
The proposed payment schedule is:
- 50% of the not-to-exceed amount upon contract signing.
- 25% upon presentation of the candidate slate.
- The remaining balance after appointment of the new superintendent.
- Travel and optional services billed as incurred.
Six in-district consulting days are included in the base price. Additional on-site consulting is listed at $2,500 per day, per associate.
Other potential costs identified in the agreement include:
- Third-party investigative background checks estimated at $1,100 to $1,950.
- Behavioral assessments at $300 per candidate.
- District-requested survey, advertising, printing, binding, and shipping expenses.
- HYA associate travel, lodging, and transportation expenses, plus a $50-per-day meal per diem.
- Candidate travel expenses if the district elects to reimburse candidates.
The agreement notes that portions of the search may be conducted through Zoom when appropriate to reduce district travel costs.
Search Guarantees and District Responsibilities
Under the proposed agreement, HYA would remain available to advise the district throughout the search. If the selected superintendent leaves during the first year under any circumstances, HYA would recruit new candidates at no additional consulting cost, except for travel, advertising, and due-diligence expenses. A similar guarantee applies within two years when a majority of the board remains in place and the departure results from dissatisfaction rather than personal or family reasons.
The district would retain significant responsibilities, including approving the search process, determining optional services, interviewing finalists, consulting attorneys about applicable transparency and employment requirements, deciding whether to reimburse candidate expenses, and negotiating and executing the selected superintendent's employment contract.
The agreement also states that the ultimate decision to hire or not hire a particular candidate remains solely with the Board of Education.
Community Participation and Upcoming Meetings
The agenda includes an opportunity for citizens to address the board, with three minutes per speaker. Participants are instructed to submit a completed ticket before the meeting.
The packet also notes:
- There will be no September work session because of a Colorado Department of Education Boardmanship Training scheduled for September 1 at 6:00 PM.
- The next board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, September 15 at 6:00 PM.
- The district identifies its YouTube channel as an option for following board proceedings.
What to Watch at the Meeting
The special meeting presents two immediate decisions associated with the superintendent transition. The first is who the board will appoint to provide interim leadership; the packet does not identify a proposed appointee.
The second is whether the board will use a consulting firm for the permanent superintendent search. If the board chooses the CASB/HYA framework included in the packet, the proposed agreement outlines a national search involving community engagement, candidate recruitment and screening, interview support, transition assistance, and a search fee capped at $23,500, plus applicable optional services and expenses.
Civic Translator summarized publicly available meeting materials provided by the Montezuma-Cortez School District RE-1 Board of Education.
