Forsythe, Nelson school superintendent finalists

Narrowing the field is not the sole domain of college basketball this month.

La Conner school board members last weekend chose two finalists from among 21 applicants for the district’s superintendent position, the last step in a process that began last fall.

David Forsythe, assistant superintendent of operations at Northwest Educational Services District #189, which serves 35 public school entities and 170,000 students in Skagit, Island, San Juan, Snohomish and Whatcom counties, and Will Nelson, director of equity at Arlington School District, were selected Saturday as finalists for La Conner’s chief administrative role.

Forsythe and Nelson were among five semifinalists for the job who interviewed with the board during 50 minute in-person sessions at the Bruce Performing Arts Center March 27 and were viewed on the Zoom teleconferencing platform.

Forsythe had a second interview with the board on Monday. Nelson returned Tuesday.

Each finalist met with staff, Swinomish Tribal Senators, an open public community meeting and an executive session with the board during an 11-hour day.

“The board was very impressed with the credentials of both candidates as we evaluated their ability to address all our questions,” board president Susie Gardner Deyo told the Weekly News Sunday. “We look forward to spending time with them on Monday and Tuesday as well as getting the community’s feedback during the open forums.”

The sessions were sparsely attended, likely because of the Zoom option. Masks were worn and due to the size of the auditorium social distancing was not an issue.

Nelson interviewed in the morning. Forsythe was part of the afternoon shift.

Board members posed questions covering a wide range of topics – from academics, finance and equity to community outreach and building rapport with staff and students.

Candidates had an opportunity to provide insight into unique aspects of their lives.

Nelson, who has held various management positions in the private and public sectors, noted that he is a dog lover and interested in linguistics.

“I speak Russian and English,” he said, “and am learning my own language – Blackfoot.”

In over a decade with Arlington Schools Nelson has taught CTE (career and technology education) and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math), with experience as assistant principal and principal.

Forsythe also has a broad range of experience from nearly a quarter century in education. He was on staff eight years with the Meridian School District near Bellingham as a principal, assistant principal and director of teaching and learning. He taught in Sedro-Woolley and was an elementary principal at Everson, in Whatcom County.

ESD #189 serves 35 public school entities and 170,000 students in Skagit, Island, San Juan, Snohomish and Whatcom counties.

The board also interviewed semifinalists Byron Gerard, Beth VanderVeen and Gary Neal.

Gerard is a principal tasked with rebuilding Options High School in Bellingham.

VanderVeen has spent 27 of her 35 years in education as an administrator. She is currently the Mukilteo School District’s director of student services and athletics.

Neal, a consultant on K-12 capital projects with Vanir Construction Management, has almost four decades of experience in education – including a stint as superintendent of the Sequim School District.

La Conner Schools has been led since July on an interim basis by retired veteran superintendent Rich Stewart. The district’s superintendent position was vacated last summer when Whitney Meissner took a post with the Lake Washington School District in King County.

Stewart has navigated La Conner Schools through the COVID-19 pandemic, led a successful levy election campaign and facilitated with Northwest Leadership Associates the search.

Wednesday afternoon the school board will first meet in executive session then take a public roll call vote to choose the new superintendent.