La Conner superintendent search starting

At its mid-month study session the La Conner School Board chose Northwest Leadership Associates as the consulting firm to lead the search for a new district superintendent.

The in-state firm received the nod over McPherson & Jacobson, a leading national consulting company.

“This is our number one job, to select a new superintendent,” board president Susie Gardner Deyo stressed during the panel’s video-conferenced study session on Oct. 12.

Deyo was joined by board members Lynette Cram, John Agen, and Amanda Bourgeois.

J.J. Wilbur missed the study session due to a coinciding family event.

Once terms are set with NWLA, getting to superintendent candidates will be a six month process said interim superintendent Rich Stewart.

Other topics on a nearly two-hour agenda were considered at length.

Fittingly, given that the board met on Indigenous Peoples’ Day, a formal district policy on race and equity was discussed.

That journey begins with a pair of book studies. Board members, including student representatives MacQuaid Hiller and Avery Sloniker, will review Robin DiAngelo’s “White Fragility” and “Blind Spot: Hidden Biases of Good People” by Anthony Greenwald and Mahzarin Banaji.

Bourgeois, representing the Swinomish district, said society must now evolve from merely espousing good works to taking a hard stance against racism.

“I think it’s really important to put a policy in place that implements action,” she said. “It’s something you build on that happens over time collectively with community and staff.”

The board will also study equity policies adopted by other Washington state school districts.

“The more training and better knowledge we have,” Agen said, “the better off we are. I’m all for learning the key points and developing a plan that everybody in our district is familiar with and trying to achieve.”

Stewart said the effects of poverty must also be considered when tackling equity issues.

Also considered:

• John Haley gave an update on the 2020-21 La Conner Pre-School program, for children ages 3-5 and transitioning from its former home at Swinomish to the La Conner Schools campus. That move, Haley said, is in response to the Tribal Senate starting its own pre-school. “We have a great relationship,” said Haley. “It’s just something that the Tribe wanted to do, and we support that.”

The La Conner Pre-School is a collaborative program between the school district, Skagit-Island Head Start, and the Early Childhood Education Assistance Program (ECEAP). It is operating on-line and plans on serving small groups of children on campus later this fall. Stewart added that La Conner Schools is also exploring whether it can enter into a “symbiotic relationship” with the La Conner Pre-School Cooperative.