PORT TOWNSEND — After one year on the job, Port Townsend School Superintendent David Engle has been given a vote of confidence.

Following the Port Townsend School District Board of Directors’ unanimous vote to extend his contract effectively for another year, School Board member Bill LeMaster characterized the decision as “highly unanimous.”

“He has a positive manner and is the right man for the job,” LeMaster said.

“He is engaged with the community, and is engaged with the students and the teachers.”

Engle, 64, was given a three-year contract effective at the time of his hiring July 1, 2012.

The board’s action renews the action, so he now has three years on a contract that expires

July 1, 2016.

The terms of the contract and the salary — $125,000 per year — remain unchanged, Engle said.

Engle was one of four finalists who emerged last year out of 23 applicants who sought to take over from Gene Laes, the man who served as interim superintendent for two years.

Engle said his contract extension is in line with the “five-year plan” that includes the implementation of maritime-based education, increasing academic standards and improving the facilities.

The facility most in need is the Lincoln Building, a nearly empty edifice on the high school campus.

The Lincoln Building needs to be either rehabilitated or torn down in the next few years.

“It is costing us money to do nothing,” Engle said of the building.

“We can’t afford the maintenance, which is costing us money that needs to be spent on education.”

Engle hopes to retrofit many of the district’s buildings to maximize energy efficiency.

While he is optimistic about the district’s future, he said the biggest obstacle is a lack of resources.

“The state is in such a tangle, it looks like the state could even shut down,” he said of the ongoing budget battle in Olympia.

“So getting resources to run the schools is a really big deal.”

Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.