The Haines Borough school board on Monday voted to offer Rich Carlson of Juneau a six-month contract to serve in the position of temporary interim superintendent at a rate of $425 per day, equivalent to $110,000 per year.
The board last week interviewed Carlson, who most recently served an interim 11-month superintendent position in Cordova. He also worked 12 years as superintendent in Klawock. Carlson has agreed to the hire, which still must be approved by the board.
Carlson will start on the job Aug. 3. His contract extends to the end of January. Members Sarah Swinton and Brian Clay were absent from Monday’s meeting.
“Hopefully, we can find (a permanent superintendent) by mid-year. If not, we’ll extend the search for a permanent superintendent and hopefully extend Carlson’s contract,” board chair Anne Marie Palmieri said after the meeting Monday.
Because Carlson is retired, the state Division of Retirement and Benefits limits his employment to six months, but extensions to one year can be granted, Palmieri said.
Palmieri said she was advised by school district attorney John Sedor and by an official with the Alaska Council of School Administrators that the district wasn’t required to advertise the superintendent’s position. The job opened when former superintendent Ginger Jewell unexpectedly resigned three weeks ago.
Palmieri said she contacted three potential candidates for the job and of those, only Carlson could work full-time.
Carlson worked 15 years for the Bering Strait School District, including as curriculum director and athletic director. He was assistant principal at Barrow High School for two years and worked as assistant superintendent in the Lower Yukon School District.
In an interview with board members last week, Carlson was asked why he was interested in the job. “Haines has a great reputation as a school district. Just walking around, meeting people who work here, I know why it has a great reputation. That’s why I’m here.”
Carlson said he could help oversee efforts to add flow to the curriculum and said “some relationship-building is probably not a bad idea.”
“In a year or six months I won’t make significant changes, but we could move toward that goal,” Carlson said.
Carlson said he expected to find similarities between Haines and Cordova. “Haines has its uniquenesses and I’ll have to learn those, but I’m willing.”
The district hasn’t started advertising the permanent job, which might not happen until September. The board has discussed hiring the Alaska Association of School Boards to lead the search. The cost would be between $5,000 and $7,000.
“They do this for districts across the state and they offer different levels of service,” Palmieri said. “They come and sit down with the staff and ask what criteria in a superintendent are you looking for.”
Palmieri said after school starts would be a good time to have those discussions. “They tailor their advertisement (for superintendent) to those criteria.”
Palmieri said she was excited about hiring Carlson, as in Cordova he also stepped in when a superintendent resigned after a year. “He understands being a superintendent during a transition like we had. He followed a situation in Cordova where the district was in a state of unsteadiness.”