SEQUIM — Gary Neal has been chosen as the permanent superintendent of the Sequim School District.

Neal, 56, has been serving as interim superintendent since July 1.

The Sequim School Board voted unanimously Monday to offer the position to Neal.

Neal has done “an outstanding job,” said Beverly Horan, board president.

“We were all very impressed with our input from our” teachers union and district staff concerning Neal, she said.

Neal’s new contract is being formulated at this time, she said.

Likely salary

Neal will most likely continue to be paid $133,900 — the amount of his current interim contract — for the remainder of the school year through June 30, said Brian Lewis, district business manager.

Neal, the district’s former assistant superintendent for teaching and learning, succeeds Patrick Kelly Shea, who left June 30 to become superintendent of the East Valley School District in Spokane Valley.

Neal has been serving as interim superintendent while the School Board has continued efforts to find a permanent replacement for Shea, who had been superintendent since March 2012.

The search for a new superintendent began in mid-March 2015.

Neal was chosen as interim superintendent after the School Board decided to pass on two finalists for superintendent, saying neither would be a good fit.

The search for candidates was led by McPherson & Jacobson LLC of Omaha, Neb. The firm was paid $9,000 by the board.

The company said it would conduct a new hunt to find a permanent superintendent for the district at no extra charge, but that is no longer necessary.

Neal has a superintendent’s certificate from Washington State University, a master’s degree in administration and curriculum from Gonzaga University, a continuing elementary and secondary teacher certification from Eastern Washington University, and a bachelor’s degree in agricultural education from WSU.

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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Chris McDaniel can be reached at 360-681-2390, ext. 5052, or cmcdaniel@peninsuladailynews.com.