Category All Art Classes Classical Music Concerts DANCE Etc Exhibits Families Farmers Markets Film Happenings Holiday Holiday Lectures Music (non-classical) Theater

Submit events

Board picks final four superintendent candidates

By Clare Jensen

Tacoma School Board is whittling away at the list of possible new leaders for Tacoma School District.

After 14 hours of public and private interviews last week, board members selected the four final candidates who will be given a “closer look” according to board member Jim Dugan.

After discussing all of the seven candidates’ qualifications in an executive session March 24, the board came into public session to list their personal favorites and narrow down the list to something they could all agree on.

The board chose these four candidates for further consideration: Anna Diaz, a bilingual associate superintendent for exceptional education and multi-lingual services in the 177,000-student Orange County School District (Fla.); Alan Ingram, retired chief master sergeant in the United States Air Force and current chief accountability officer in the 39,000-student Oklahoma City Public School District; Art Jarvis, current interim superintendent for Tacoma Public Schools who has spent 12 years as superintendent for Washington’s Enumclaw School District and South Whidbey School District; and Alan Nishino, superintendent at the 9,500-student Morgan Hill Unified School District (Calif.), with a total of 15 years experience as school district leader.

Every board member named Jarvis in their top picks.

Board members Kim Golding and Kurt Miller agreed that Diaz, Ingram and Jarvis should move on to the final round.

“I felt they were the strongest candidates,” Golding said.

Miller said those three “showed those results” that the public asked for.

Diaz has a record of establishing special programs, such as academic magnets and intervention programs, according to her resume. Ingram, in his current position, serves as the superintendent’s chief of staff, and is responsible for the success of district-wide reforms and special projects. In his time as chief accountability officer, the district successfully made adequate yearly progress for the first time ever.

Board member Debbie Winskill chose Jarvis, Nishino and Charles Stockton, assistant superintendent with Springfield Public Schools in Missouri, as her top picks.

“This is a very complex district. We need someone with superintendent experience,” she said. Winskill said she did not feel that any of the other candidates had the same experience. “So many things are lacking in some of those candidates.”

Jarvis and Nishino both have more than a decade of experience working as superintendents at various districts – Jarvis with a seventh-month tenure in Tacoma under his belt already.

According to Nishino’s resume, he has increased district-wide test scores at the last two districts he served. He also created a variety of community partnerships with businesses, city leaders and the police chief; all things Tacomans say they value.

Board member Connie Rickman also picked Jarvis and Nishino. “We need to go with as much experience as possible,” she said.

With Jarvis, Diaz, Ingram and Nishino all getting adequate support from the board, they will all be seriously considered for the superintendent position.

Dugan said that no single candidate would have all the qualifications the board and public desired, and agreed on the four finalists as people he needed to “know more about.”

And starting the second week in April, the board, and the community, will have ample opportunities to better get to know the four superintendent hopefuls.

April 9 and 10 are the tentative dates for a second round of interviews. There will be a series of meetings, some open to the public, some targeted at specific populations (such as school principals) and some with a focused topic of discussion (such as school curriculum.) Members of the public will be able to ask questions directly of the candidates. The exact schedule for interviews is still to be determined.

The following week of April 14, board members will be traveling to the home site of all four candidates.

Story Tools