Local school leaders finalists for new jobs

Published 4:00 am Friday, March 7, 2003

Two local school superintendents are finalists for top jobs west of the Cascades, raising the possibility that come fall, three of Central Oregon’s five largest districts will have new leaders.

Redmond School District Superintendent Jerry Colonna, Oregon’s superintendent of the year in 2001, is one of two finalists for the top post in the 35,000-student Beaverton School District.

The Beaverton district’s previous superintendent made about $150,000 annually, according to school district records.

In Prineville, Crook County Superintendent Gary Peterson has been named one of three finalists to lead the 6,500-student Centennial School District, which has schools in Portland and Gresham. He’s also a finalist at the 5,400-student Bethel School District in Eugene.

The move to Centennial would be a step-up in salary for Peterson, who currently earns $89,616 annually.

The Centennial position would pay $105,000 to $110,000, district spokeswoman Wendy Reif said.

Eight of the district’s nine schools are in Portland; Centennial High is in Gresham. The district has a $42 million budget, Reif said.

And in Sisters, school district officials have narrowed down a list of 24 applicants to seven who could replace Steve Swisher, said Human Resources Manager Jan Martin.

Among the semi-finalists are Sisters Elementary Principal Tim Comfort, Terrebonne Elementary Principal Yvonne Curtis and Redmond School Board member Judy Delahunt. Interviews will be March 14 and 15.

Swisher, Sisters’ superintendent for the last nine years, is leaving to pursue a job with a state superintendent’s organization. A decision on his replacement should happen in mid-April.

The Beaverton School District is expected to make a decision during their next school board meeting, scheduled for Monday night.

An affluent suburb of Portland, Beaverton has more than 35,000 students, 47 schools and is the 3rd largest district in the state. It operated with a $218 million budget last year. Redmond has 10 schools, about 6,000 students and worked with about $37 million.

”It’s a win-win situation,” Colonna said Thursday. ”I think it’s the top superintendent position in the state and it’s a very highly achieved district with an excellent staff and a real record of innovation and excellence.”

But if Beaverton chooses its other finalist, Steven Ladd, who was Beaverton’s assistant superintendent from 1993-2000, Colonna won’t be too upset.

”If I don’t receive it, I’d be happy to stay in Redmond until I retire,” he said. ”I think Central Oregon is the best place I’ve ever lived. I’ve been in the Redmond district for nine years and the only position I’d leave the Redmond district for would be this one.”

Beaverton officials say Colonna was selected from a national pool of about 25 applicants.

Chuck Meyer, chairman of the Beaverton School Board, called Colonna a ”very impressive individual.”

”This is man that’s very passionate about public education,” he said. ”This is not a job for Jerry, it’s like it’s a calling.”

In 2002, Colonna represented Oregon at the National Conference on Education Leadership and in 2001 he was Oregon’s delegate for the American Association of School Administrators.

He also played an instrumental role in helping to bring an Oregon State University branch campus to Central Oregon and is a member of the Oregon Teacher Standards and Practices Commission.

Colonna reduced class sizes at the elementary level in the district to give teachers more of an opportunity to give young, developing students more individualized attention.

Colonna and Ladd spent Thursday in Beaverton meeting with district staff, touring the district’s administrative center and eating dinner with the school board.

Today, the finalists are scheduled to attend a breakfast with community leaders, tour district schools and visit with community members during an evening reception, held at one of Beaverton’s seven high schools.

The school board will then interview both candidates during an executive session, scheduled for Saturday morning.

The rigorous agenda leading to Monday’s final announcement doesn’t intimidate Colonna.

”I feel I’ve been preparing for this since I graduated from high school,” he said. ”I feel very confident.

Members of the Redmond School Board don’t like the idea of losing Colonna.

”It makes you sick to your stomach,” said Wayne Van Matre, board chairman. ”We would hate to lose him, he has done so much for the district. It would be a great loss for us and a great gain for Beaverton.”

Other Redmond board members echoed Van Matre’s sentiments.

”I think he’s the most outstanding education leader I have ever worked with,” said board member Judy Delahunt.

She said, ”He sets a standard of excellence for all the employees in the district. He’s one of those people that not only sets the standard, but he models it.”

Board member Tim Carpenter said he doesn’t blame Colonna for exploring the Beaverton opportunity.

”I’d hate to stand in the way of his professional gain,” said Carpenter, adding that under Colonna, student’s test scores have improved. He said Colonna has also helped Redmond schools avoid the major financial problems currently plaguing school districts around the state.

Meanwhile, the seven-member Centennial School Board could decide by the middle of next week if Gary Peterson is their man, district spokeswoman Reif said.

Crook County school board member Dee Wettstein also said Peterson is a finalist in the Bethel School District. She said members of the Bethel School Board will be in Prineville on Friday to meet with district officials.

Bethel School District officials did not return calls on Thursday, and Peterson would not confirm whether he is a finalist there.

When asked if he was on the short list anywhere other than Centennial, he said ”not where any names have been made public.”

Peterson, whose contract with Crook County expires in June, is a finalist at Centennial with former Springfield School District Superintendent Jamon Kent and a superintendent from Missoula, Mont. Current Superintendent Keith Robinson is retiring.

”I think it’s a good professional opportunity in a stable and growing district,” Peterson said Thursday.

”Certainly it has nothing to do with anything in Crook County because Crook County is a very good place and in very good shape. It was just an opportunity I felt I should look at.”

To deal with state budget cuts to education, Centennial earlier this year cut the school year short by five days, fired about 16 employees, cut elementary school band and middle school track, Reif said. The district has a $42 million budget.

Peterson said it’s a challenge to run any district in Oregon because of the state’s budget crisis – the latest state budget shortfall is $244 million.

Adding to the challenge in Centennial, he said, was the fact that it’s located in two cities in the same county, which adds complexities when it comes to building schools, for example.

Janet Roberts, a Crook County School Board member for the last 13 years said she would hate to see him go, adding that Peterson ”has done wonderful things for the district.”

”He’s put us in a place where we can attract someone else just as good and carry on his tradition of fiscal responsibility and calm and peace in the district and managing things in difficult times,” she said. ”I’d rather he stay forever, but I’m a little more realistic than that.”

This isn’t Peterson’s first attempt to leave Crook County.

Last March, Peterson was a finalist to lead the 7,300-student district in Oregon City and the 5,500-student McMinnville School District. He was not offered either job.

Board members said Peterson’s wish to leave the district hasn’t affected their relationship with him, saying he has given Crook County 100 percent this year.

Peterson was hired in 1999 to replace Bruce Anderson, who had led the school district for seven years.

Ted Taylor can be reached at 541-383-0375 or ttaylor@bendbulletin.com.