Eleven applicants step up to fill interim superintendent role

The new leader of the Tigard-Tualatin School District could be selected within the next two weeks.

The School Board on Monday night laid out its plans for hiring an interim superintendent.

The interim replacement for former Superintendent Rob Saxton — who left the school district this week to lead the state's education department — is expected to be named the first week of August.

School officials speculated that the interim leader would serve only a few months until a permanent replacement could be found. However, the board announced Monday that the interim would serve a full year at the district’s helm and a permanent replacement wouldn’t be in place until the end of the 2012-13 school year.

In a special meeting with teachers, parents and community members, board members discussed important qualities they were looking for in an interim superintendent and asked for community input.

Matt Hamilton, a science teacher at Hazelbrook Middle School, said the interim superintendent would need to manage the district’s spiderweb of programs.

Above all, said Jerry Larsen, a longtime member of the district’s Budget Committee who has worked under three previous superintendents, the interim leader should serve as a placeholder between Saxton and the permanent replacement.

“We can’t clone Rob,” Larsen said. “But I think they should be able to provide a pretty seamless continuation of programs that we have going on, and that we are working towards.”

With the interim in place for a full year, the new candidate will have a hefty plate to manage when he or she steps into the new role in the weeks ahead.

Among the pressing issues on the horizon are pending contract negotiations. The district will enter negotiations with its employee groups during the next few months.

While last year’s talks with the teachers’ union the Tigard-Tualatin Education Association ended amicably, things have not always been that way. The district saw teachers and staff picketing outside the district headquarters in 2011, after teachers spoke openly of a strike when contract negotiations fell apart after more than a year of talks.

The interim superintendent also faces the task of guiding next year’s budget process.

Larsen called that process “a barn burner,” noting major cuts were coming.

Al Spencer, a social studies teacher and former president of the Tigard-Tualatin Education Association, said the superintendent should be able to take a critical look at the district’s programs given the budget situation.

School Board member Barry Albertson said while the new leader juggles the budget, negotiations and the unsure footing of the state’s funding for K-12 education, the interim superintendent will also need to keep the district moving forward.

“This individual is going to have a lot of strengths and a lot of talent,” he said. “It’s a tough job, maybe a tougher job being the interim than the real McCoy. This is an ‘Elmer’s Glue-all moment’ to keep everything marching on.”

Eleven applicants have applied for the interim position after less than a week, said School Board member Jill Zurschmeide.

The board will interview the applicants on Monday in a closed-door session. A finalist is expected to be in place in time for the School Board’s Aug. 13 meeting.