North Thurston superintendent search nears finish line

The North Thurston School Board is scheduled to meet in closed session for several hours Saturday to interview seven semifinalists for the 14,700-student district’s next superintendent.

Then, they will continue to meet in executive session to make a short list.

“If they are ready, and I think they will be, they will come out of that into an open session and they’ll announce who they are inviting to come as finalists,” said Mike Boring, one of the consultants leading the district’s superintendent search. “They’ll probably invite three people. That’s usually the number.”

District spokeswoman Courtney Schrieve said the finalists’ names will likely be announced Saturday night. Officials already have scheduled meetings beginning at 7 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, at district headquarters, for community members to meet the finalists.

Boring has led superintendent searches all over the region, including ones for Olympia, Tumwater, Clover Park, Aberdeen, Chehalis, Centralia and Rainier school districts. He said North Thurston’s search to replace retiring superintendent Raj Manhas stands out.

“This is one of, if not the, strongest applicant pool that I’ve seen,” he said. “This has been an exciting one.”

Boring said North Thurston’s search:

▪ Generated 17 completed applications.

▪ Featured nine men and eight women.

▪ Attracted a pool of highly qualified candidates: Five of the applicants are serving as or have experience as a superintendent, seven are assistant superintendents, and four are executive director or administrative-level workers. One applicant didn’t fit in any of those categories. Eight applicants have doctoral-level degrees.

“There was quite a bit of experience represented,” Boring said. “You had a group of people who have been in education for a number of years, and administrative work for a number of years, so that was good.”

The School Board originally planned community meetings with finalists later, but Boring recommended they move the timeline up to improve the district’s chances of landing the best candidate.

School Board vice president Chuck Namit said he thinks that was a good idea.

“There are a number of school districts on the west side of the state that are interviewing,” he said. “Some of the candidates we are looking at might be interviewing with other districts.”

This story was originally published March 18, 2016 at 11:33 AM with the headline "North Thurston superintendent search nears finish line."