PORT TOWNSEND — The Port Townsend School Board will seek a permanent replacement for retiring superintendent David Engle, resorting to hiring an interim schools chief only if no satisfactory candidate emerges.
The board voted unanimously Monday night to hire a search firm for candidate recruitment. It is expected to select from two firms when it meets at 6 p.m. March 28 in the Gael Stuart Building, 1610 Blaine St.
“We don’t have anything to lose,” said Nathanael O’Hara, the board chairman.
“We will hire a search firm and try to fill the position,” he said. “If that doesn’t happen we will hire an interim.”
The decision was made during the regular board meeting after discussion about the matter at an afternoon work session.
Engle, 67, was in his fourth year as superintendant when he announced his retirement earlier this month.
He helped to establish the Maritime Discovery Initiative place based learning program and shepherded the passage of a $41.1 million bond issue to construct a new elementary school.
Decision made
Because it is late in the school year, the board met to decide whether to seek an immediate permanent replacement or seek an interim superintendent for one year while conducting a lengthier search.
The board took this strategy during Engle’s selection process, employing part-time interim superintendent Gene Laes for two years.
Jennifer James-Wilson, who was first elected in 2009, is the only sitting board member who participated in the last selection process.
James-Wilson said she initially favored an extended search for Engle’s replacement but a conversation with a search consultant changed her mind.
“I was told by the consultant we used last time that our district has a lot of momentum right now, so if we hire an interim it puts that momentum on hold,” she said.
Interim superintendents tend to keep things in place but they don’t necessarily keep things moving, the consultant said.
Search firms generally cost between $12,000 and $15,000, James-Wilson said, although the last search was acquired at the discounted rate of around $8,000.
“If we select a search firm now and they don’t come up with a permanent superintendent, we haven’t wasted our money as their contract extends as long as it takes to find someone permanent,” she said.
“It’s a continuing effort.”
Wilson said that all of the retired superintendents that are on the interim list today will still be available in the summer if the permanent person is not hired.
A third option, according to O’Hara, would be to promote an interim superintendent from current staff, which would require temporarily shuffling around existing jobs and responsibilities.
O’Hara did not recommend this option, and board member Laura Tucker said it would cause a disruption in the district.
The two firms under consideration are Northwest Leadership Associates based in Liberty Lake, Wash., and McPherson & Jacobson LLC in Omaha, Neb.
The district has used both firms in the past, McPherson & Jacobson was used to recruit Engle while Northwest Leadership recruited Laes.
O’Hara said that the new superintendent should have autonomy and not operate in Engle’s shadow.
“Whomever we choose, we need to give them the freedom to do their job,” O’Hara said.
Added Tucker “we need to find the most qualified person and get out of their way.”
________
Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
