PORT ANGELES — After 36 years in education, including seven years leading the Port Angeles School District, Superintendent Marty Brewer plans to step down after the end of the current school year.

Tuesday’s announcement will be effective Aug. 29, 2025.

“The years I have spent in Port Angeles have been among the most fulfilling of my career,” Brewer wrote in a letter to the district’s board of directors.

“I leave confident that the district will continue to thrive and reach new heights, and I remain deeply invested in its future success.”

Brewer joined the district on July 1, 2018, succeeding retiring Superintendent Mark Jackson. He previously had served as superintendent of the Pioneer School District in Shelton and Director of Gifted Programs for the Richland School District, as well as positions as a teacher and principal.

The board released a letter on Tuesday to families and the community praising Brewer and his accomplishments on behalf of the district.

“Marty has been a visionary leader, a compassionate listener, and an unwavering advocate for our students, staff, and community,” the letter said. “Marty’s commitment to keeping students’ best interests at the heart of his decisions has been instrumental in shaping our district’s mission and progress.”

The board will begin the search for a new superintendent in December, according to the letter.

Port Angeles is the largest school district on the North Olympic Peninsula with 3,292 full-time students, according to its October enrollment report.

Lasting achievements

The biggest project Brewer has overseen since 2018 is the implementation of the district’s 30-year facilities improvement plan that will replace its inventory of old, outdated and inefficient buildings.

The 2020 voter-approved capital projects levy to replace Stevens Middle School and passage on Nov. 5 of a 20-year, $140 million bond measure to replace Franklin Elementary School and Port Angeles High School will result in three new schools opening before 2030.

“I’m really happy about that,” Brewer said Tuesday. “It’s a real win for the community.”

During Brewer’s time in Port Angeles, the district expanded its career and technical education and STEM offerings and created Seaview Academy, an alternative online education program that has grown to serve students across the state.

It established partnerships with the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe and the North Olympic Healthcare Network, the latter of which delivers much-needed services and behavioral care to students via a mobile health clinic.

Brewer’s time with the district also has been marked by challenges.

In November 2018, months into his tenure, the Port Angeles Paraeducators Association went on a two-day strike to demand better wages.

Last April, a labor dispute with paraeducators similarly focused on pay resulted in a strike that interrupted the return of classes after spring break and pushed the last day of the academic year to June 24.

In 2022, the district barely averted a delay to the start of the school year when it settled with teachers who had voted to authorize a strike.

In March 2020, Gov. Jay Inslee’s decision to close all K-12 schools in Washington to reduce the transmission of COVID-19 kept students out of classrooms for nearly two years. But students in Port Angeles were among the first in the state to return to in-person learning.

Brewer kept a tight rein on expenses, often to the frustration of bargaining units seeking higher compensation and parents demanding more and better programs for their children. He frequently cited inadequate support for schools from the state Legislature, particularly for special education funding, and the trend of declining student enrollment in his approach to fiscal sustainability.

Brewer said he was unsure what his next step would be after his retirement, but it will definitely involve education.

“Now I have the time to find out what that is,” he said.

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Reporter Paula Hunt can be reached by email at paula.hunt@peninsuladailynews.com.