Seattle schools select first Native American superintendent

She also became Montana’s first openly gay candidate during her run for Congress there in 2016.

  • By Wire Service
  • Thursday, April 5, 2018 12:16pm
  • Northwest

Associated Press

SEATTLE — The Seattle School Board has selected Montana’s former superintendent of public instruction Denise Juneau as the next superintendent of Seattle Public Schools.

The Seattle Times reports the board voted unanimously on Wednesday to hire Juneau, who will be the first Native American superintendent in the city’s history.

She was Montana’s state superintendent from 2008-2016.

The move marks the end of a two-month search for the city’s third superintendent in six years.

Among the pool of candidates which included superintendents of school districts in Colorado and Michigan, Juneau’s name was possibly the most recognizable.

In addition to being the first Native American woman to win statewide office in Montana, she also became the state’s first openly gay candidate during her run for Congress in 2016.

The board plans to discuss Juneau’s contract on April 25. She’ll make about $300,000 a year.

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