Search for a new Everett schools leader enters home stretch

Published 1:30 am Sunday, May 19, 2019

EVERETT — A nationwide search for the next leader of the Everett School District enters the home stretch this week.

Everett School Board members plan to hold interviews Monday and Tuesday with seven candidates seeking to succeed retiring Superintendent Gary Cohn.

On Tuesday, at the conclusion of those conversations, board members are expected to winnow the field to a handful of finalists. Those individuals would be brought to town May 29 for further interviews with the board plus get-togethers with students, teachers, staff, principals and the community.

The school board is on course to make a decision May 30 and have the person begin work July 1.

And it looks like the next superintendent will be coming from another state.

Thirty-five people applied to lead the district, which has 20,000 students, 2,400 employees and the distinction of paying its most veteran teachers the highest salaries in the state.

At last Tuesday’s board meeting, the firm assisting directors in their search brought forward nine top candidates for consideration.

District officials provided no information on those individuals except where they live now: Florida, Illinois, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia.

Cohn, an educator for 39 years, intends to retire June 30.

He arrived at Everett Public Schools a decade ago after a stint as superintendent in Port Angeles. Cohn also was vice president at Lake Washington Technical College, an administrator for the Lake Washington School District and a teacher in the Northshore School District in the early 1980s.

Information on the search process and the timeline can be found online at https://www.everettsd.org/.