Three finalists vying for North Thurston Public Schools’ top job

After a day of interviews with seven candidates, the North Thurston School Board came out of executive session Saturday evening with a list of their top picks for the district’s next superintendent.

They are: Alexa “Lexi” Cunningham, superintendent of Tolleson Union High School District near Phoenix, Arizona; Debra “Deb” Clemens, superintendent of the Cheney Public Schools near Spokane; and Patrick Murphy, assistant superintendent of Edmonds School District in Snohomish County.

“We had an excellent pool of candidates to interview,” board president Aaron Owada said. “We hope to have a large turnout at the staff and community forums to meet our finalists and provide invaluable input on North Thurston’s next leader.”

Each finalist will spend a day this week touring the district, meeting with teachers and school staff and participating in community forums.

After seven years at the helm, North Thurston Superintendent Raj Manhas announced in December that he plans to retire at the end of the school year.

Here’s more about the finalists:

▪ Cunningham, 50, has been superintendent at Tolleson, which has 11,500 students, for the past four and a half years. She will be in the district Monday.

She said she lived in the Kirkland area for about five years when she was in elementary school and would like to return to the Northwest.

“I was looking for a district and a community that was very supportive of education, that was really working together to provide opportunities for all students,” Cunningham said. “… I want to be part of a community that helps to move students forward.”

Cunningham has a bachelor’s degree from Southern Methodist University, a master’s from Northern Arizona University and a doctorate in education from Arizona State University.

▪ Clemens, 51, has been superintendent of the 4,500-student Cheney district since 2012. She will be in the district Tuesday.

She said she heard Manhas speak at a conference recently about the district’s close relationship with its community partners.

“It was inspiring to me,” Clemens said. “It’s a similar commitment we have in our school district.”

Clemens has a bachelor’s degree from Viterbo University, and a master’s in business administration and a doctorate in philosophy from Gonzaga University.

She and her husband have two daughters, ages 10 and 14. She said she’s impressed with North Thurston’s community support, and she believes it would be a good fit for her leadership skills and her family.

“My husband is an account manager, and his territory has shifted to the west side of the state,” she said. “And I was hoping to look at opportunities that were around the Olympia area.”

▪ Murphy, 48, has been assistant superintendent at the 20,000-student Edmonds district since 2012. He will be in the district Wednesday.

Murphy said he’s interested in the job because North Thurston has a “very strong reputation” across the state, particularly in terms of student achievement.

Murphy said he also connected well with the district’s focus on compassion.

“That really resonates with me,” he said. “The work we do is very important and we have to do it with a compassionate lens.”

Murphy has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington, a master’s from Whitworth University and a doctorate in education from Washington State University.

He and his wife have three daughters, ages 12, 16 and 18.

This story was originally published March 20, 2016 at 5:38 PM with the headline "Three finalists vying for North Thurston Public Schools’ top job."