PORT TOWNSEND — After spending more than two hours behind closed doors Tuesday night to select Port Townsend’s next schools superintendent, the School Board couldn’t reach a decision.
It will try again starting at 8 p.m. Thursday.
The board met in executive session Tuesday night to choose between the two finalists: Thomas Churchill, 48, superintendent of the Hood Canal School District in Shelton, and Mellody Matthes, 50, executive director of human resources for the Oak Harbor School District on Whidbey Island.
The executive session, which began 30 minutes late, was originally projected to end at 9:15 p.m. but was extended three times until the board emerged without a selection around 10:45 p.m.
For their part, Churchill and Matthes followed identical schedules in Port Townsend on Monday and Tuesday, respectively — first with a facilities tour and then meetings with administrators, elected officials, staff and in an open public meeting in which they fielded questions.
Participants at each meeting filled out feedback forms, which were considered by the board in making their decision.
Jefferson County Clerk Ruth Gordon, who met with both candidates during scheduled meetings, said each is qualified but has different skill sets.
She did not elaborate.
Both candidates placed a priority on facilities improvement, and promised to actively campaign for a tax levy extension scheduled to go to voters next February.
“We need to have a plan for the future that is honest and transparent,” Churchill said, “and make sure that people know how much money we are asking for and how we intend to spend it.”
Several times throughout the day Tuesday, Churchill said the district should rely on available data to determine the direction of decisions made by the district and the board.
“There is a lot of public information that we can use to demonstrate what we need and how much it will cost,” he said.
This includes data about kids who leave public school for private school or home instruction.
“If I am superintendent, I will personally call up every parent of a child who has left school and find out why they made that decision,” he said.
“We will need to pass a bond,” Matthes said, “so we need to keep talking about what a good value the schools are for the community.”
After meeting with staff members on Monday Matthes said the district “has a morale problem” and that it needed to celebrate its successes.
“You all need to become ambassadors for the schools in the community,” she said.
“If you go into a supermarket and say, ‘These kids are behaving terribly,’ that is the message that goes out.
“There are a lot of good things to talk about,” she said.
“You need to keep your mouth shut about the bad things and just share them with your spouse.”
It was the second face-off this year between Churchill and Matthes, as both had applied for the Chimacum superintendent position that was filled in March.
In Chimacum, Matthes and Churchill both made the top six, but only Churchill made the top three finalists.
Ultimately, the board chose Mike Downs to succeed the retiring Mike Blair.
In Port Townsend, the School Board, is seeking a successor to Tom Opstad, who announced in March that he had taken a position in Aberdeen for the next school year.
The board will reconvene Thursday evening in the Lincoln Building, 450 Fir St..
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
