SEQUIM — The Sequim School Board will offer the job of interim school superintendent to Gary Neal, pending successful contract negotiations, for the 2015/2016 school year beginning July 1.
Neal is currently Sequim’s assistant superintendent for teaching and learning, a job he has held since July 2014.
In that role he provides leadership for the district’s curriculum, instruction, assessment and technology programs.
Before coming to Sequim, he had been the principal of West Valley High School in Spokane.
“It is a pleasant surprise,” Neal said following the vote, adding the offer was “quite humbling.”
Neal would serve while the School District restarts the process to find a permanent replacement for Patrick Kelly Shea, who is leaving June 30 to become superintendent of the East Valley School District in Spokane Valley.
Shea has been Sequim school superintendent since March 23, 2012.
The School Board voted to offer Neal the position, and to hash out a contract, following a closed-door executive session Monday night.
OUR EARLIER STORY;
SEQUIM — The Sequim School Board will conduct an executive session today, closed to the public, to discuss its options after voting unanimously Thursday evening to pass on the two candidates vying for school superintendent.
“We need to talk about . . . what is the next step,” said board member John Bridge.
The executive session will follow the regular meeting, which will begin at 6 p.m. in the district boardroom at 503 N. Sequim Ave.
The next superintendent will succeed Patrick Kelly Shea, who is leaving June 30 to become superintendent of the East Valley School District in Spokane Valley. He has served in Sequim since March 23, 2012.
Neither Sheldon Berman of Eugene, Ore., nor Joe Potts of the Seattle suburb of Kent were chosen to replace him.
After emerging from a 90-minute closed-door executive session Thursday in which they had discussed the candidates, board member Bridge made a motion to decline offering a contract to either man.
“I don’t think that either candidate really . . . seemed to be a good fit that Sequim needed,” he said.
“I couldn’t come up with a clear choice,” added Bev Horan, the board’s president.
The decision was “incredibly tough,” said board member Mike Howe. “It became obvious that neither one was a good fit.”
Heather Jeffers, board vice president, said neither candidate stood out, and “I don’t like to settle.”
Board member Walt Johnson did not comment.
The two candidates were chosen earlier this week by the School Board from a pool of applicants.
In addition to Berman and Potts, the board chose a third finalist, Heather Davis-Schmidt of Missoula, Mont., but last week, she accepted a position with the Whitefish (Mont.) School District and was no longer in the running.
The three candidates were selected from an initial pool of 24 applicants. That list was whittled down to five semifinalists before the trio was chosen.
The School Board was looking for a person experienced in both running a school district and with bond issues, and was not satisfied with the candidates.
Focused growth
“The growth that we have to do in this next six to eight months has to be very focused,” Horan said.
The School Board is considering seeking a bond issue following the February defeat of a bond to finance a new elementary school and more classrooms in Sequim.
The school district’s proposed $49.5 million, 20-year bond received 6,691 yes votes to 5,026 no votes — a 57.11 percent to 42.89 percent margin. A 60 percent supermajority was required.
Even without a permanent replacement, “we feel we can still move the district forward and still be successful with the bond,” Howe said.
The search for a new superintendent began in mid-March. The new superintendent was expected to assume the post July 1.
The search was led by McPherson & Jacobson LLC, a firm based in Omaha, Neb. The firm was paid $9,000 for its services by the district.
While that money was not included in the budget for the current fiscal year, the school district had enough surplus funding to cover the charge, said Brian Lewis, Sequim School District business manager.
If the district hires an interim superintendent, McPherson & Jacobson will redo the process of hiring a new superintendent during the next school year free of charge, said Rich Parker, McPherson & Jacobson executive search consultant.
Berman and Potts toured the school district in advance of Thursday’s decision. They were interviewed by the School Board and met the public in forums.
Berman is the superintendent of Eugene School District 4-J.
He previously served as superintendent of Jefferson County Public Schools in Kentucky from 2007 to 2011.
From 1993 to 2007, he was superintendent of Hudson Public Schools outside of Boston.
Potts has been principal of Kentlake High School since autumn of 2010.
Before that, he served as assistant principal at Kentwood High School in Covington north of Auburn in King County.
A farewell reception for Shea is planned from 3:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 10, in the district boardroom at 503 N. Sequim Ave.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Chris McDaniel can be reached at 360-681-2390, ext. 5052, or cmcdaniel@peninsuladailynews.com.
