LIVERMORE — If the Livermore school board opts to hire a search firm to help find a replacement for outgoing Superintendent Brenda Miller, it will cost $27,200.

In good economic times, that would probably seem a relatively small price to pay to fill a position so important. But these are not good economic times, one speaker observed at Tuesday's board meeting.

More than $13 million in budgetary cuts have been made during the past two years. School leaders have said another $6 million likely will be cut this year, and an elementary school could close.

The cheapest option would be to promote an administrator from within the district to replace Miller, said former Livermore school board member Tom McLaughlin.

"I think you need to look closely at the members within who are working with the superintendent and keeping the district solvent in the times we're in now," McLaughlin told trustees.

The board will consider a subcommittee recommendation to hire a search firm at a special meeting at 11 a.m. Thursday at the board meeting room, 685 E. Jack London Blvd., Livermore.

Miller announced earlier this year that she will retire in February. Until a permanent replacement is named, assistant superintendents Mike Martinez and Kelly Bowers and budget Director Susan Kinder will split her duties, officials said.

The board on Tuesday heard a presentation from Frank Cosca and Steve Goldstone of the Cosca Group, a Fairfield-based

If hired, the 32-person Cosca Group would interview hundreds of district staff, teachers and parents to develop a list of characteristics sought in a new superintendent, Cosca and Goldstone said. The group would then conduct an extensive recruitment campaign throughout the state.

The group's "firm price" of $27, 200, with no potential for cost overruns, cinched the board subcommittee's recommendation for hire, said subcommittee member Anne White.

Board member Stewart Gary, who also sat on the subcommittee, reaffirmed the recommendation Tuesday.

"This is an excellent time for us to have a ... community dialogue about what's best for our kids," he said.

Reach Reporter Jeanine Benca at 925-847-2125.