Last month, Utah’s highest-paid superintendent announced plans to retire from the Park City School District amid questions about potential contract violations. Now, Jill Gildea has accepted a job in Colorado.
She is set to begin leading Colorado Early Colleges on Friday, officials with the public charter school network confirmed Wednesday.
The terms of her departure from the Park City School District remain unclear, as her retirement officially takes effect Jan. 31, 2025, according to a district news release.
When asked by The Salt Lake Tribune if Gildea will receive severance pay or other benefits, Board Chair Andrew Caplan said, “We have no comment on personnel matters.”
However, KPCW has reported Gildea will use any remaining paid time off until her official retirement date.
Colorado Early Colleges did not immediately provide Gildea’s employment contract upon request. The Tribune has filed an open records request to obtain a copy.
Gildea’s contract controversy ignited after Colorado Early Colleges announced in late August that its board had selected Gildea as its sole candidate for the position of chief executive officer.
That vote took place on Aug. 16, four days before the Park City School Board, in a 3-2 vote, renewed Gildea’s contract. Board members Meredith Reed and Nicholas Hill opposed the renewal.
According to her Park City contract, Gildea was mandated to “promptly notify the board” should she decide to apply for other roles. She also was required to provide a “30-day advance written notice” if she decided to leave the district or face a $2,000 “early termination penalty.”
District officials did not provide a direct answer as to whether Gildea had notified board members of her job search.
Gildea announced her retirement on Sept. 16, calling it a “privilege to lead this remarkable district” and expressing gratitude for the “opportunities we’ve had to innovate, grow, and achieve significant milestones together.” Her statement made no mention of the Colorado job offer.
Just hours before Gildea’s 4 p.m. announcement that day, Park City Board of Education leaders held a closed session at noon to discuss “the character, professional competence, or physical or mental health of an individual; and personnel,” according to the meeting’s agenda.
Including benefits, Gildea earned $415,201.42 in fiscal 2023, according to Transparent Utah. Her benefits also include a district-provided vehicle and an $870,000 house that the district purchased in 2018, the year she started at the district.
Gildea will move out of the district-owned home upon her retirement date, KPCW reported.
Prior to Park City, Gildea served as superintendent for less than a year at Greenwich Public Schools in Greenwich, Connecticut, The Greenwich Time reported in March 2018, describing her departure as “abrupt.” Before that, she spent six years as superintendent of the Fremont School District in Mundelein, Illinois.
Treasure Mountain Junior High Principal Caleb Fine is currently serving as the interim superintendent, Park City Schools board leadership announced last month.
