Trustees of the San Antonio Independent School District voted unanimously Monday to end their contract with PROACT, the search firm that recruited a lone superintendent finalist who withdrew his candidacy last week.

“This is really an opportunity to start fresh, step back and begin a search process that will be supported by the entire board in the spirit of unifying our board, healing our community,” board President Ed Garza said.

He added that he was not blaming PROACT and said the move will allow at least one new trustee joining the board in May to be a part of the process.

Hired last June to recruit candidates, the company drew the ire of several trustees who had joined a unanimous vote April 8 to name Manuel L. Isquierdo as their sole finalist.

Trustees James Howard, Adela Segovia and Olga Hernandez distanced themselves from Isquierdo after his legal and financial problems dominated subsequent news coverage. They blamed PROACT for what they said was shoddy work in vetting the candidate.

Other trustees said Isquierdo's energy and vision are what SAISD needs and were disappointed that the public didn't get to see those qualities. Isquierdo withdrew his candidacy Friday, citing negative media attention in a letter to Garza.

Garza said the district had made two of three payments toward PROACT's $22,000 contract fee and said he did not believe it had to make the final payment.

He has insisted that all trustees were told of Isquierdo's tax problems — he owes more than $150,000 to the IRS — and knew he had racked up $12,545 in disallowable credit card charges in 2008 that he had to return to Sunnyside Unified School District in Tucson, where he is superintendent.

Garza said the board didn't know that a grand jury in Arizona in 2010 sought documents related to Isquierdo's marketing of a laptop incentive program he developed with his staff at Sunnyside, and that he recently lost to foreclosure a $1.1 million home he bought in Tucson.

“I find it painful to face this negative media focus and criticism again on issues that were resolved five years ago,” Isquierdo said in his letter to Garza.

Garza, who with trustees Patti Radle and Debra Guerrero has not faulted the search firm, said PROACT was in the process of getting board members additional information when Isquierdo withdrew.

“I hope that we as a board, that has traveled with them and brought people forward, would share in the responsibility,” Radle said before Monday's vote. “We can't just blame the search firm.”

Isquierdo will keep his job at Sunnyside, according to the Arizona Daily Star, which also has reported that the board of neighboring Tucson Unified School District hired PROACT last week for a superintendent search and now has concerns in light of SAISD's experience.

Mark Stegeman, a TUSD trustee, told the newspaper his board should take steps to guard against “a similar outcome.”

The Daily Star quoted Gary Solomon, the chief executive officer for PROACT, as saying by email Saturday that SAISD trustees had the information they needed to make decisions on candidates.

Solomon has not returned repeated calls from the Express-News, and PROACT representatives did not attend Monday's SAISD meeting.

Garza said interim superintendent Sylvester Perez likely will serve another year as the board retools its search.

mcesar@express-news.net

Twitter: @mlcesar