On his last official day of work, Paul Andrews plans to be singing in the Vatican with the Central Oregon Mastersingers.

Andrews, the superintendent of the High Desert Education Service District, is retiring June 30, after serving the district in various roles for 25 years. He is proud of the work he’s done and the services he’s helped bring to Central Oregon, he said.

The service district is a regional organization that supports school districts in Central Oregon.

The trip to Rome next year will help celebrate his career as it gives way to a new chapter in his life, Andrews said.

“I’m looking forward to doing more with music than I’ve been able to,” said Andrews, 57. “Maybe I’ll go on tour, who knows?”

One could argue he already has. Andrews has sung with the Mastersingers choir for several years, including in Berlin and Carnegie Hall.

Andrews grew up in New Hampshire and attended Dartmouth College. He originally wanted to be a psychologist, but he came from a family of educators, he said.

An internship at a school ended up exciting him enough to switch his focus to education, and Andrews earned his teaching license in secondary social studies. He moved to Seattle, began working with adults with disabilities and earned his masters degree in special education with a focus in severe disabilities.

That focus stems from Andrews’ twin brother, Peter, who was born with significant disabilities and died at the age of 4.

“That link has always been there as well in terms of feeling a kinship to people with disabilities and wanting to advocate for people with disabilities,” he said. “He would have been 11 before there would have been a law that guaranteed that he had a right to an education as a child with disabilities.”

After earning his masters degree, Andrews taught 16- to 21-year-olds outside Seattle for a few years. He then taught kindergarten and mentored teachers, community members and parents in Alaska.

While he was traveling in Tanzania, a friend reached out to Andrews and said there was an opening for an autism specialist in Bend. In 1999, Andrews started working with the High Desert Education Service District.

The education service district

The High Desert Education Service District gained that name in 2003, and primarily serves Bend-La Pine Schools, Crook County Schools and the Redmond and Sisters school districts, although it provides services throughout Central Oregon.

There are 197 school districts in Oregon, and there are 19 educational service districts to provide regional services.

The district provides specialists for disabilities, early intervention and early childhood education for children through age 5, substitutes for schools, attorney services and more.

“We are an organization that’s here to serve districts, but also particularly over the last 20 years, much more the community: the nonprofit community, the higher-ed community, the early-childhood community. So we’re a conduit for that as well,” said Andrews.

The service district handles close to 50 different services, and hires people for each one, similar to a regular school district.

Andrews answers to the school districts and meets regularly with the superintendents to discuss what’s needed or what new program could be added that would be helpful.

“It is about making sure all those districts feel they have the service and the supports they need,” said Andrews.

Various programs across Central Oregon are part of the district, including the Children’s Forest of Central Oregon, portions of the Family Access Network, Better Together and others. Andrews also serves on the board of the Central Oregon Health Council, and represents the school districts there.

”I’m proud of the ecosystem we’ve created”

Andrews’ arrival brought the number of autism specialists from two up to three. He began the assistive technology program in his second year.

“We served about 60 kids at that time and it’s hundreds now,” he said. “That’s changed a lot in 25 years.”

In 2003, Andrews got his administrative license and became the special education director. A few years later, he earned his doctorate in educational leadership from Lewis & Clark College. He worked in school improvement before moving into roles as the deputy superintendent and then superintendent.

“The personal lives I’ve touched as a teacher and as a specialist, that I’m proud of,” said Andrews. “I learned that I love working with adult learners…and so, watching my staff grow and learn is something that I love.”

He enjoys creating programs for kids, said Andrews.

The service district’s board will post an open application for the superintendent position in January and hire in the spring. Andrews said he plans to focus his final months on making sure the district is ready for the next superintendent.

“The ESD is in really good shape right now,” he said. “I feel proud of where we are, so I will be passing the baton to lead an organization that is solid, stable, has done an amazing amount of work in the last few years.”

Andrews plans to travel more, including singing with the Mastersingers in Italy, and continue teaching as an adjunct professor at Lewis & Clark College.

“I fully expect and hope I will be doing something a year from now that I couldn’t imagine in this moment that I would be doing,” he said.

Some of that time will be spent “discovering what’s next,” he said.

“A lot of next year is kind of filling in those pieces that I haven’t found time for, such as music,” said Andrews. “I’m looking at it as what is that third stage in my life and I’m going exploring to find out what it can be.”

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