Anthony Habra, who worked the last six years heading up small-town school districts in Michigan, this week signed an agreement for a three-year contract as superintendent of the Haines Borough School District.

He’ll be paid $113,000 for his first year on the job and $10,000 for moving expenses. His contract begins July 1.

Habra was chosen over co-finalist Robin Gray, Yakutat’s superintendent-principal, following two days of meetings and interviews with Haines school board members, teachers and citizens. A third finalist, Pribilof superintendent-principal Connie Newman, pulled her application after accepting another position.

School board president Anne Marie Palmieri said Gray scored points with the board for extensive Alaska experience, strong special education knowledge, and thoughtfulness, but that Habra’s history of collaborative decision-making and relationship-building gave him the edge.

Palmieri said she was impressed that Habra spoke of the importance of teaching creativity and critical thinking as well as about creating a school environment where students are willing to take risks. “He seems like a visionary.”

She said Habra related an account of a project of tutorials and enrichment for students he developed but staff completely revised. She said it demonstrated Habra’s ability to put aside ownership of an idea in order to reach goals.

She also scored as a plus that Habra said he would spend his first year focusing on building relationships and not look at bringing in innovations until his third year on the job. Former superintendent Ginger Jewell ran into resistance after proposing many changes soon after her hire. She resigned during her first year.

In an interview with community members Tuesday, Habra said he understood budget-cutting.

“You have to make certain you take all the input. You give it serious consideration. You bring it to your administrative team, then you bring out your ideas and have people kick ideas around again… but in the end, the decision has to be made and the best way to do that is to make certain everyone understands the process of how you got there and that it wasn’t arbitrary. (The public) isn’t going to create their own story around the facts if you let them know what the story is,” Habra said.

“But the bottom line is you can’t lose the the things that make you unique and make you who you are,” he added.

Habra described technology as a tool that shouldn’t be ignored or overused. “As long as you have a purpose for it, and teachers are comfortable with how they’re going to use it, and it’s going to be used to increase engagment, it’s truly a part of what students are doing these days.”

Habra said he didn’t know the history of the relationship between the district and Chilkat Valley Preschool but said, “We have to educate all kids, however they get educated. You want to work with them to make sure their needs are met, too.”

Palmieri said the board liked that Habra talked so much about building relationships. “He wants to be here long-term. He was going to look at houses this evening,” she said Wednesday.

Palmieri said Habra’s pay, about $6,000 more than that of any previous Haines superintendent, is on on par with pay at comparable districts, including Craig at $108,000, Cordova, $112,500 and Petersburg, $120,000.

Besides serving as superintendent at districts in Paw Paw and Rudyard, Mich., Habra worked four years as a principal in Cassopolis and seven years as a school counselor in Michigan and Arizona. He holds a bachelor’s degree from University of Arizona and two master’s degrees from University of Phoenix.

Habra told the school board he “started late” in education and worked driving cabs in Los Angeles, delivering singing telegrams in Las Vegas and selling vacuum cleaners in Albuquerque.

Habra told the CVN he took 10 years to get his undergraduate degree in teaching and finished with 157 credits, as his interests shifted between medicine, computer programming, and history. “I’d go for one semester and not go for a semester. I wasn’t sure what I wanted. I worked all over and I learned a lot. It was an interesting time and I think it supported my skill set, which has been to connect with just about every student.”

Habra is married and has three children who will be enrolled in the district next year.