PORT ANGELES — The School Board has offered Jane Pryne of Arizona the job of superintendent.
The Port Angeles School Board unanimously voted during a special meeting today to negotiate a contract with Pryne, one of two finalists interviewed for the job.
School Board President Steve Baxter declined to say how much the district will offer to pay Pryne, citing ongoing contract negotiation.
The district paid Gary Cohn, who will report for duty as the Everett School superintendent on July 1, an annual salary of $138,658.50.
A salary range for the job was never advertised. The job posting stated that a salary commiserate with “districts of similar size and demographics in the state.”
Pryne could not be reached for comment today.
Baxter said she had been contacted and was excited about the opportunity.
Her contract will be approved at a future meeting. The next regular meeting is June 8, but Baxter said he might call a special meeting before that.
If the negotiations go through as planned, Pryne’s first day on the job in Port Angeles would be July 1.
“I have done many, many hirings in my multiple careers, but this was definitely the most difficult one I have ever made,” said Baxter at this morning’s meeting.
“We had two very qualified candidates.”
Ray Terry, superintendent of Beaver County School District in Beaver, Utah, was the other finalist considered for the post.
Pryne was superintendent of schools in the Continental School District and Marana Unified School District, both located south of Tucson, Ariz.
She now teaches education classes for Northern Arizona University in Tucson.
She received her doctorate in educational leadership from the University of Arizona in Tucson in May 2002, a master’s in special education with an emphasis on learning disabilities in August 1981 and a bachelor’s in elementary education in May 1977.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
