PORT TOWNSEND — Input from the community after a public interview session with two applicants for the Port Townsend School District interim superintendent position prompted the board to divide the job between the two candidates, a board member said.
“We liked both candidates,” said Beth Young, who is the only board member involved in hiring Superintendent Tom Opstad, who is leaving at the end of the month to head the Aberdeen School District after five years in Port Townsend.
“After both of them met with the public, we heard that people wanted to try to use both of them in some way,” Young said.
Laes get most job duties
The board will offer the majority of the responsibility to Gene Laes, former Cape Flattery School District superintendent who has retired to Port Townsend, with 80 percent of the salary.
The remaining 20 percent will be parceled out to Brian Metke, former superintendent of schools in Glendale, Ore., on a consultant basis.
The board first will seek to negotiate a contract with Laes as the superintendent of record and then determine how Metke will fit in afterward, Board President Bobby DuBois said.
The salary is yet to be determined, but one finalist during a failed search for a permanent superintendent said that she had been offered $120,000.
Young said this week that $120,000 was in line with what would be offered for the full-time interim position.
Both candidates visited the district Wednesday, discussing the position with administration, staff, the public and the school board in successive meetings.
LeMaster urges both be hired
After a public meeting, board members were approached by Bill LeMaster, a member of the School Site Committee who had previously recommended dividing the job between people with different strengths.
The contrast between Laes and Metke prompted him to restate the idea.
“One of them is a very philosophical educator while the other is a dynamic community organizer,” he said.
“I think we should try to get them both.”
Young said that LeMaster’s idea was taken to the board, which voted unanimously to divide the job between the two.
Consultant Dennis Ray, who is conducting the personnel search, said the division of labor between the two was “unusual but not unprecedented.”
More frequent is the tendency to hire an interim superintendent on a part-time basis, he said.
Laes will work full-time
Laes said that he will accept a part-time salary but did not think he would hold himself to 32 hours a week.
“It will be the same workload as full time,” he said. “I am not going to stop doing something just because I am over my time allotment for that week.”
The differences between the two were clear, according to several observers who attended the meeting — Laes is a skilled administrator while Metke’s strengths are in presentation and marketing.
Laes and Metke have not met, and did not cross paths during Wednesday’s interview session.
Laes said he had never met Metke, but said “he is qualified for the job” and felt that “something could be worked out” to balance the day-to-day responsibilities.
Metke was not aware of Laes’ presence at the interview session and said Thursday that he did not know who he was competing with for the job.
Metke ready to help
Metke said he had not heard about the offer Thursday morning, but said during his interviews that he would help the district in any way possible.
“I’m not looking for a job,” he said. “I [consult for school districts] for fun.”
DuBois said the board saw the difference between the two candidates as an asset and added that both can contribute to the district.
He said that Metke was “bigger than life” and applauded his enthusiasm.
“I can’t wait to see him in front of a roomful of kids,” DuBois said of Metke.
The board next meets at 6 p.m. June 28 in the Lincoln Building, 450 Fir St., Port Townsend.
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Jefferson County reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.