The Everett School Board could name a new principal for Everett High School by the time students return from their April spring break.

Principal Pat Sullivan is resigning at the end of the school year, and a search committee has been meeting with teachers and parents to come up with a profile for candidates interested in the job.

The posted job description closes Friday, and staff plan to start interviews the week of March 7. A recommendation could go to school board members as early as their April 12 meeting. The position pays $104,398 a year.

About 15 parents helped outline a wish list of qualifications and are eager to find a leader with a “can-do” attitude, said Hap Wertheimer, a graduate and mother of a junior at the school.

“I think the high school deserves a strong, positive leader who has high expectations and believes … that it should be one of the top schools in the county. It has every right to be,” she said.

Everett High School generally performs lower than the district’s other two traditional high schools, Cascade and Jackson, on the Washington Assessment of Student Learning, although scores have improved, particularly in math.

In 1999, 34 percent of 10th-graders passed the WASL reading test, compared with 63 percent in 2004. In math, 40 percent passed, up from 22 percent in 1999.

The school of more than 1,600 students has an annual dropout rate of about 8 percent. More than a third of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches.

Known for its historical status as the city’s first high school, the school has an open campus just north of downtown. The campus was modernized in 1995.

Sullivan, 53, who has worked for Everett Public Schools for 28 years, declined to say why he is leaving, though he said he is looking for a principal position in another Western Washington school district.

“It is a source of some personal embarrassment to have to talk about it,” Sullivan said. “I started teaching here in 1972 at St. Mary Magdalene in south Everett, so I’ve worked in Everett my entire professional life.

“There are certain things that are difficult to do, and leaving an organization at this time is a difficult thing to do.”

Reporter Melissa Slager: 425-339-3465 or mslager@heraldnet.com.