The Haines School Board has a special meeting Monday to talk about the superintendent search.
Former superintendent Ginger Jewell resigned unexpectedly from the district in June. She fulfilled one year of a three-year contract. Now the school board is in a time crunch to get a superintendent in place before teachers and students arrive in mid-August.
“We’re actually very fortunate in that Ginger Jewell and Cheryl Stickler and Rene Martin did a good job of preparing for next year, so there was a lot of organization that occurred,” said School Board President Anne Marie Palmieri. “So if we get someone the beginning of August, I think they would have time to really come up to speed.”
The school board is considering hiring an interim superintendent for six months or a year while they do a more thorough search for a permanent hire. The board interviewed one candidate for the interim position this week.
Rich Carlson is a retired superintendent who worked in Klawock for 12 years and now lives in Juneau. After he retired, he served as interim superintendent in Cordova for a year after their superintendent quit.
Palmieri says the Haines district would need to put in a request to the Alaska Division of Retirement and Benefits in order to temporarily employ Carlson while he is in retirement. Whether or not to take that step will be part of the discussion on Monday.
“We have a couple of options,” Palmieri said. “One option would be to offer a position to Rich Carlson and see if we can come to an agreement on contract parameters. Or we could continue looking for a superintendent…Those are just some of the options that are on the table.”
Palmieri says Carlson was one of three candidates recommended to the school district by the Alaska Association of School Administrators. If the board were to continue its search for an interim superintendent, they would likely consult with that organization and the Alaska Association of School Boards.
The board approved an FY ’16 budget recently that includes $10,000 for the superintendent search.
Monday’s school board meeting is at noon in the school library.