A new superintendant for La Conner Schools

After three months of searching and interviewing, the La Conner School Board has selected a new district superintendant.

The school board wants to hire Whitney Meissner, 46, who comes from Chimacum School District in Jefferson County, where she is a high school principal and district assessment director. Meissner has a doctorate of education from Seattle Pacific University.

“It was a very challenging decision and a lot of thought was put into it,” board president John Thulen said as the board announced their choice on Friday. “For our small size, the turnout was pretty big.”

The search narrowed 23 applicants to six top candidates, who interviewed publically last Saturday. Three final candidates then each spent a 13-hour day in the district on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in hopes of emerging as the top choice on Friday morning.

Candidates Brian Isakson, Kenny Renner-Singer and Whitney Meissner spent their day meeting with various stakeholders, including La Conner school officials and Swinomish Indian Tribal Community staff members. A classroom of high school students took turns grilling the applicants during their class period, and the public had another chance to see the candidates.

Meissner impressed the tribal staff involved in the search process, Swinomish Chairman Brian Cladoosby said, and he said he heard high recommendations from his leadership team about her.

Some of the positive notes Cladoosby said he received included Meissner’s use of the word “we” to describe her problem-solving approach, her belief that La Conner’s students are in the critical age group to determine future success, and her philosophy that students should not be sent to alternative programs as a means to get “rid of” them — preferring a “restorative justice and healing” approach.

Cladoosby said his team felt Meissner had a good understanding of tribal sovereignty and curriculum through experience working with other tribes, is knowledgeable about the Great Wolf Lodge decision, and believes every teacher should accept students without judging social or cultural backgrounds.

“Overall, my team is very happy with the choice the school board made,” Cladoosby said, “and we look forward to having a great working relationship with her, as we did with Tim Bruce.”

Meissner said she is extremely grateful and excited to come here. Her day in the district on Thursday left her energized, she said, and she loved meeting such friendly staff and students.

Meissner grew up in Skagit County and is happy to be moving back after 30 years away, she said. She has experience working with small schools at her 1,000-student Chimacum School District. At her public interview, she said she looks for win-win solutions and strives to make sure people understand the reasoning behind tough decisions.

She said that throughout her career, she’s made it a priority to stay connected with legislators. Meissner doesn’t shy away from her concerns over school funding and wrote an op-ed published last week in the “Seattle Times” titled, “Education reform: Address policy first, then school funding.”

Her problem-solving approach is to work face-to-face with the board and to leave no surprises, she said, and her first step in coming to La Conner will be getting to know people.

The public and many different school groups weighed in at different points during the search, filling out online surveys and attending open meetings.

Thulen said the feedback from the public, staff and students was very helpful to making the decision and seeing what the community was looking for.

“Looking back now, I don’t know how we could have done it without their input,” he said. “I think Whitney’s strengths were things that would be very important to La Conner — being able to tell our story ... She had really strong skills in that area.”

“I would like to say thank you for the warm welcome I’ve already received, and my door is always open,” Meissner said. “I look forward to many years of bringing continued excellent education to the youth of La Conner.”

Former superintendent Tim Bruce stepped down last July after 26 years to take a teaching position at Western Washington University. Veteran educator Peg Seeling has been serving as the interim superintendent as the board searched for a new permanent superintendant.

Meissner will be offered a contract on February 27. She is expected to begin on July 1.