SEQUIM — Gary Neal has been selected to be interim Sequim school superintendent.
Neal, currently Sequim’s assistant superintendent for teaching and learning, will assume the new position on July 1, pending successful contract negotiations with the Sequim School Board.
Neal will serve while the School Board restarts the search to find a permanent replacement for Patrick Kelly Shea, superintendent since March 2012.
Shea is leaving June 30 to become superintendent of the East Valley School District in Spokane Valley.
Last week the School Board decided to pass on two finalists for superintendent, saying neither man would be a good fit. The two had been drawn from a pool of 24 applicants which had included Neal.
The search for candidates was led by McPherson & Jacobson LLC of Omaha, Neb. It was paid $9,000 by the board. The company said it will conduct a new hunt for the district at no extra charge.
The School Board selected Neal during a closed-door executive session Monday night. In a public session afterwards, all the board members present — Heather Jeffers was absent — voted to appoint him..
“It is a pleasant surprise,” Neal said following the vote, adding the appointment was “quite humbling.”
”I was ready for this journey two weeks ago . . . and am still ready for that opportunity,” Neal added,
“It is very exciting. I feel like I did when I was announced to be principal of a high school. It was just one of those things where it was something I really wanted.”
In his current post, which he has held since July 2014, Neal provides leadership for the district’s curriculum, instruction, assessment and technology programs.
Before coming to Sequim, he had been the principal of West Valley High School in Spokane.
Neal has a superintendent’s certificate from Washington State University, a master’s degree in administration and curriculum from Gonzaga University, continuing elementary and secondary teacher certification from Eastern Washington University and a bachelor’s degree in agricultural education from Washington State University.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Chris McDaniel can be reached at 360-681-2390, ext. 5052, or cmcdaniel@peninsuladailynews.com.
