Tacoma School Board is one step closer to selecting an interim superintendent. During a meeting July 17, board members selected four out of the 12 applicants to bring in for interviews.
The board chose “four good candidates,” according to Debbie Winskill, the board member who led the search effort. More information could not be disclosed regarding the applicants for privacy reasons.
However, following his review of the 12 initial candidates July 16, board Vice President Jim Dugan said there was one from Tacoma, six from elsewhere in the state of Washington and five from out of state, including two from California. “We were very pleased to receive 12 applicants,” he commented. “There are a number of clearly outstanding candidates.”
Following her review of the applicants, board President Connie Rickman described them as a “nice mix. I was pleased with the quality,” she added.
During the public session that followed the executive session July 17, the board hammered out the criteria for the interviews, which are scheduled from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. July 25 with a 30-minute break at noon for lunch.
The board will ask the interim candidates questions regarding the following: what they know about Tacoma Public Schools, what their approach to the job would be if selected and what their community involvement has been in the past.
The board will also ask the candidates if there’s anything they would like to tell the board about themselves, according to Rickman. During this time, Dugan noted, the candidates will also be able to ask questions of the board members about the district.
Each candidate will be allotted 45 minutes for the interviews. Rickman will be personally calling the candidates to schedule them. The board members agreed that the morning of July 26 could be an additional time for the interviews, if needed. Rickman will be sending letters to the candidates that were not selected to move forward in the process.
Between now and then, Winskill will be checking the candidates’ references with the assistance of boardmember Kim Golding.
The board will receive information from the reference checks prior to the interviews July 25, according to Dugan, which are tentatively scheduled to take place on the eighth floor of the Central Administration Building (CAB).
The board is expected to make a selection and vote on the new interim superintendent during the board meeting July 26 at 6 p.m. at CAB, located at 601 S. Eighth St.
The board would like the interim superintendent, who will receive a salary of $185,000, to start Aug. 1; the board hopes to have a permanent superintendent in place by early next summer.
