PORT ANGELES — Port Angeles Assistant Superintendent Michelle Reid will take over the top administrative job at South Kitsap School District beginning July 1.
The South Kitsap School Board unanimously selected Reid on Wednesday night for the superintendent position at the 10,000-student school district.
Reid, 53, was asked to attend the meeting Wednesday night and was present for the announcement that she will fill the position vacated last summer by Superintendent Dave LaRose.
“I will miss the people of Port Angeles,” Reid said Thursday.
“It’s a great community that supports its schools and its students.”
She recently completed her doctorate and received her superintendent credentials, she said, adding that she has been eager to put her experience and training to work.
“I’m excited to have the opportunity to do that,” she said.
The next step will be for Reid’s contract, including salary, to be negotiated through a professional intermediary.
Reid’s annual salary as assistant superintendent is $123,000.
‘Bittersweet for us’
“This is bittersweet for us,” said Port Angeles Superintendent Jane Pryne.
“Her leadership will be a tremendous asset to South Kitsap, and they are very fortunate to have her at the helm,” Pryne said in an email to district employees Thursday morning.
“We are a stronger district because of her leadership, and we are anticipating her having the same impact on South Kitsap as their superintendent.”
The Port Angeles School Board will begin to outline a process for hiring a new assistant superintendent Monday.
Pryne said one of the decisions the board will make is whether the district will hire a search consultant or simply list the position on educational websites.
From the time the board receives Reid’s resignation, it will take about two months until a replacement is selected, she said.
Reid was one of three finalists chosen from 18 qualified candidates who applied for the job.
She was considered for the interim superintendent post after LaRose announced he was leaving but was passed over for former Superintendent Bev Cheney, and the board invited her to resubmit her resume for the permanent post.
Reid began her career as a teacher in the Granite Falls School District.
After she was hired as principal of Lincoln High School in 1989, she served as assistant principal and principal at Port Angeles High School, and was selected as assistant superintendent in 2004.
In 2005, Gov. Chris Gregoire appointed Reid to the Washington Learns Task Force on Education Reform.
Reid and her husband, Capt. Terry Reid, a fire captain with the Port Angeles Fire Department, raised four children who graduated from Port Angeles High School.
The Reids plan to move to a community in the South Kitsap School District, most likely Port Orchard, and Terry will commute to Port Angeles, Michelle Reid said.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
