PORT ANGELES — The Port Angeles School District board of directors has agreed to offer a base salary of $220,000 for its next superintendent.
The amount is more than 30 percent above the $175,552 base salary retiring superintendent Marty Brewer earns.
Board directors came to their decision Thursday after Scott Harker, the district’s director of human resources, presented a spreadsheet displaying the base salaries of 27 superintendents in state school districts with enrollments of 3,000 to 4,999 students. Port Angeles’ enrollment was 3,288 this month.
Based on the spreadsheet, Mercer Island School District’s Fred Rundle earned the highest base salary ($273,905) and Brewer the lowest. The only other North Olympic Peninsula district included in the enrollment classification was Quillayute Valley, where Diana Reaume earned $226,137.
The Sequim School District, which wasn’t included because its enrollment is 2,642 students, paid superintendent Regan Nickels a base salary of $241,960, according to the OSPI Final School District Personnel Summary Reports for the 2023–24 school year.
Directors said a $220,000 salary — just below the $230,000 average of those in Harker’s presentation — would make the district competitive in a search.
Board President Sarah Methner said it is in the district’s best interest to find the right person for the job, not the cheapest.
“I have seen in this state districts that have made the decision not pay their superintendent or get the best they could afford, and it ends up costing the district a lot more, whether it be turnover or having to buy a superintendent’s contract out,” Methner said. “We can’t afford not to have a competitive salary.”
Human Capital Enterprises, the firm hired by the district to manage the search, will hold three focus groups to gather feedback that will be used to develop questions for applicants.
One group will be composed of representatives from each school, another of representatives from the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe and the third of union representatives.
The recruitment window closes Feb. 12; the district hopes to announce the name of a new superintendent sometime in March.
Information about the superintendent search and online survey can be found on the district’s website at tinyurl.com/vfwnatyj.
Meanwhile, the board directed Brewer to finalize a renewable one-year contract at $150,000 a year for a director of capital projects to oversee the planning, design and construction of the new Stevens Middle School, Port Angeles High School and Franklin Elementary School. It will review and approve the contract at is Feb. 13 meeting.
The state requires school districts with projects more than 50,000 square feet to have a qualified construction manager in order to obtain School Construction Assistance Program funding.
Construction on the new Stevens Middle School is scheduled to begin in May or June with the laying of its foundation.
“The district needs someone internally to monitor its investment,” Brewer said.
Also Thursday, Cory Plager of D.A. Davidson updated the board on sale of the $140 million in general obligation bonds voters approved in November’s election to fund the high school and Franklin Elementary projects. The plan is to issue $30 million in bonds on May 30 for funds that would become available to the district June 5.
The $30 million would fund the design process — schematic designs, construction documents and bidding — for the projects. The goal is for that phase to be completed in time for a December 2026 bond issuance of $110 million to fund construction.
In other items Thursday:
• Dry Creek sixth-graders Violet Austin and Landen Laurance were recognized as the district’s students of the month.
• In her monthly report, Karen Casey, the district’s director of finance, said the district had saved more than $1 million in materials, supplies and operating costs from September to December, thanks to the efforts of staff and teachers. Increasing MSOC allocations from the state is among a number of funding increases OSPI is lobbying the Legislature for this year.
“We are needing the whole community, all the people who work in education and parents, to be in touch with their legislators,” school board director Sandy Long said. “School districts across the state are in desperate need of funding. We all need to be working together.”
• Directors Methner, Long, Mary Hebert and Kirsten Williams met with six members of the community before the regular meeting in the Wildcat Cafe, where discussion focused on the search for the next superintendent, concerns about declining enrollment and the need for increased school funding.
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Reporter Paula Hunt can be reached by email at paula.hunt@peninsuladailynews.com.
