PORT TOWNSEND — In 2010, Port Townsend School Superintendent Tom Opstad gave the district two months’ notice, requiring an accelerated search that failed to end in a new district chief.
This year, as Superintendent Gene Laes wraps up his second year heading the district, the selection process is following a careful plan that is intended to have a permanent leader in place for the 2012-2013 school year.
“Gene has given the community an opportunity to reflect on the vision and needs of the district,” said Bill LeMaster, who will join the school board in January in the middle of the selection process.
After two of the three selected finalists indicated they were no longer interested in the position, Laes was selected as interim superintendent for one year.
The board voted to extend his contract for a second year before the first was completed, as is the practice with superintendent contracts, but Laes indicated that it would be his last year.
The district has now begun a more leisurely selection process, which included a meeting Monday with Mike Boring, a representative of McPherson & Jacobson LLC, a firm based in Omaha, Neb., which was hired to conduct the search.
The firm is receiving $6,500 for the service, plus expenses, which includes a one-year guarantee.
If the person leaves the job for whatever reason within one year, the company will repeat the search process free of charge, aside from expenses.
March date
Boring’s schedule has the final choice announced March 7, but that could be delayed.
Boring suggested that the board offer the possibility of a three-year contract, which is the maximum term for the superintendent’s position.
“You will not find anyone to move into the district for anything less than a two-year contract,” he said.
Board members at Monday’s meeting said they favor offering a longer contract to an acceptable candidate so they don’t have to go through the process again.
During the last search, 26 applications were collected. Those were narrowed first to six and then to three finalists.
Of the three finalists, one dropped out before the last round of interviews and another the day before the board was to make a decision.
This year, Boring will make sure the candidates are still interested in the position before they are selected as finalists.
Boring presented a time line for the process, which begins with community meetings to determine what the district wants from a superintendent.
To accomplish this, the district will hold separate interviews with administrators, teachers, students and community members in order to narrow down the most important qualities.
The process will then go into a “quiet period” where the position is advertised and applications collected.
This could last a month or six weeks and will be followed by a screening process, where applicants are narrowed into semifinalists and are called into the district for interviews.
After the first visit, the finalists will be selected and a second round of interviews and meetings will take place.
The candidate will then be selected from the finalists.
Boring said the process will benefit from a longer application period, which allows the word to get around.
School levies generally go to the voters in the February election, and conducting a search in the middle of an election can disrupt the process, especially if the finalists’ names are made public.
Boring said districts have no obligation to hold a public process.
“We want people to participate,” said school board member Jennifer James Wilson.
“Outreach is important to us.”
Boring said he thought the district would be able to find a good candidate since it is the only district of its size in the region now involved in a superintendent search.
The district has 1,214 students, according to the district’s website.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
