PORT TOWNSEND — Two finalists have been selected as possibilities to lead the Port Townsend School District next school year.
No date has been set for deciding upon the district’s interim superintendent.
On Wednesday night, the School Board chose Gene Laes, former Cape Flattery School District superintendent, and Brian Metke, former superintendent of the Glendale (Ore.) School District, as finalists from a field of nine applicants.
Each will visit the district for an extended session and will participate in successive meetings designed to determine how their abilities fit the district’s needs.
The board sought to select a permanent superintendent to replace Tom Opstad, who is taking a job in Aberdeen on July 1, but was not able to find a permanent candidate.
At a May 21 meeting, the board announced that it would seek an interim superintendent for the 2010-2011 school year and use the extra time to select a permanent replacement.
Consultant Dennis Ray, president of Northwest Leadership Associates of Liberty Lake — who is organizing the selection process — said the two candidates were appealing because of their previous experience in the superintendent’s chair.
“If someone has experience developing a strategic plan for a district or running a bond issue, they will be a more appealing candidate,” Ray said.
The district is scheduled to sponsor a construction bond issue in early 2011.
The board is keeping the remaining seven candidates “in the pool” should neither Laes nor Metke be chosen.
School Board Chairman Bobby DuBois said he could not predict when a new superintendent would be in place.
“I’d be happy if one of these two met our needs,” he said. “But there’s no way to tell how long this will take.”
The meetings have yet to be scheduled, but the candidates will tentatively arrive at the district in early afternoon, and meet with separate groups of staff, the public and the School Board.
An interim superintendent could choose to apply for the permanent position.
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Jefferson County reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
