Schools chief, board president resign

After a miserable year marked by fallout from a federal appellate court’s Great Wolf Lodge decision and failed levies, La Conner School District Superintendent Tim Bruce and district board President Rick Thompson announced their resignations on Monday.

Supt. Bruce, who will continue to serve until his contract expires on June 30, said he has accepted another position, though he said he is not ready to announce which district recruited him.

Bruce, who holds a Ph.D., is in a field where there is presently a shortage of qualified applicants to lead school districts. He said he received an offer that is too good to pass up, and he’d actually been considering it since December.

Board President Thompson said he considers Bruce to be one of the top school administrators in the state, if not the nation. During his more than 20 years at the helm in La Conner, Bruce has received state-wide awards and professional recognition numerous times.

Thompson, who has served 21 years on the school board, said his own resignation won’t be effective before Oct. 1.

In January when he accepted his present term as board president, Thompson made it clear that he was staying on just long enough to shepherd the district through the tumultuous period caused by the Great Wolf decision, which took 931 parcels off the district’s property tax rolls and shifted much of the tax burden to the remaining taxpayers.

On Feb. 9, two levies totaling close to $1.5 million were rejected by voters, many of whom were angry because they felt like they were shouldering too much of the tax burden and because most of the voters deciding school taxes live on land the district cannot tax.

Monday, at the district’s regularly scheduled board meeting, Thompson said he is delaying his resignation because he wants to help the district through the upcoming budgeting process for the 2016-2017 school year.

Also, he said, the district will begin a superintendent search immediately. In the meantime, long-time district administrator Peg Seeling, will serve as interim superintendant, which is a post she is certified to hold.

Seeling has been with the district for many years and has served as a principal in the past and is presently the director in charge of curriculum, testing, and other programs including athletics. Her one-year contract as superintendent will start July 1, when Bruce’s expires.

On Monday several community members were present at the board meeting, where a new levy proposal was expected to be the big item of the evening.

After the resignations were announced, La Conner Mayor Ramon Hayes and Town Councilman Bill Stokes both thanked Thompson and Bruce for their years of service.

Stokes told the men, “I think it’s very unfortunate you’re leaving.” He said he appreciates the work the leaders have been doing and that in the face of the district’s current challenges, “the solution is at hand.”

Hayes said, “Tim and Rick, it’s been a tough year, and we need to move forward. The time is now to rally around the schools.”