Decision nears on Quilcene-Brinnon schools chief

A decision on a new superintendent for the Quilcene and Brinnon school districts may be made Monday.

The two finalists for the joint post — Martin Schmidt, superintendent of the Gorman (Calif.) Independent School District, and Wally Lis, principal of Rainier High School — were interviewed by both boards Monday.

Later in the day, the two met the public in a forum at the Quilcene School District.

The Quilcene School Board will review information about the finalists in a closed executive session at the school library Wednesday.

Both boards will meet again in a joint meeting with the Brinnon School Board in a closed executive session at the Brinnon library, 46 Schoolhouse Road, at 4 p.m. Monday.

If a superintendent is agreed upon, they will come out of executive session and make an announcement.

The new superintendent will replace Quilcene Superintendent David Anderson and Brinnon Superintendent Linda Thompson, both of whom are retiring this year.

The Brinnon and Quilcene school boards decided to combine the two part-time jobs into a single full-time position.

The joint position was advertised at $92,000, Brinnon School Board President Val Schindler said.

Quilcene School Board President Bonnie Hitt said the action was not a consolidation of the two districts but a combination of resources.

A combined committee of the Brinnon and Quilcene school boards narrowed the choice from seven applicants to two finalists.

Schmidt has worked in California since 2006. He served as assistant principal of Klahowya Secondary School in Silverdale from 1997 to 2006.

Lis worked as director of curriculum and assessment for the North Kitsap School District from 2002 to 2009.

Quilcene — made up of an elementary, middle and high school — has 400 students plus 15 in preschool.

Brinnon, which offers classes only through the eighth grade, has 50 students, including 13 preschoolers.

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