PORT TOWNSEND — Gene Laes is no longer the interim Port Townsend School District superintendent. He’ll be back next year.
He will continue in the post through the 2011-2012 school year under the same conditions as when he was hired for the interim post in June.
He will continue to earn $96,000 annually and work four days each week.
“There are some things that need strengthening,” Laes said Thursday.
“The district has positive aspects, but there is a lot of negative perception.’
The decision to extend Laes’ contract was made at Monday’s School Board meeting.
He said he will continue to work more than 32 but less than 40 hours a week.
“My assistant [Rosanne Butler] has said that she does not want me in the office on Friday,” Laes joked.
Search postponed
When Laes was hired in June, the School Board had been unable to find a suitable permanent replacement for Tom Opstad, who announced his resignation in March to take a post in Aberdeen.
The original intention was to seek a permanent replacement for the next school year, and that process was scheduled to begin in November.
The permanent search was postponed another year when the board asked Laes to stay on and he accepted.
“Usually, an interim superintendent is hired for a period of one year and is a caretaker position,” Laes said.
“The board wanted me to work beyond that, and it is something that I wanted to do.”
Laes has a career as a school administrator extending more than 35 years.
He had retired after more than a decade at the Cape Flattery School District helm when a consultant managing the job search for the position contacted him.
Laes said his enthusiasm for the job has not diminished.
“I do not feel like I am 64 years old,” he said.
“I have the same level of energy as when I started out.”
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
