Former Sultan schools superintendent Al Robinson is 5,000 miles and 19 hours away from his old district.
As the district continues its search for a replacement, Robinson is settling into his new job as superintendent of a private two-school system on balmy Kwajalein Island.
“The idea of 85 degrees and sunshine every day, no cars … palm trees everywhere you look. I started Feb. 24 and haven’t worn long pants since,” Robinson said over a satellite phone.
Kwajalein Island is one piece of an atoll by the same name that is part of the Marshall Islands, a nation located roughly between Hawaii and Australia in the Pacific Ocean.
Kwajalein Atoll was a famous World War II battlefield. Now the U.S. Army’s Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Site sits alongside its coral and sandy beaches.
Robinson oversees George Seitz Elementary School and Kwajalein Junior-Senior High School, which are privately run by Kwajalein Range Services, contractors for the U.S. Army Systems Defense Command.
The elementary school was first organized in 1956 as a Navy Overseas Dependent School, with first through eighth grades. In 1959, it became contractor-operated and in 1961 added kindergarten and a high school.
“It’s a great system to work in,” Robinson said. “It’s a great opportunity.”
The Sultan School Board last year decided not to extend Robinson’s contract, which expires in June. The board cited low student achievement and the district’s struggling finances as reasons for its decision.
Retired Sultan administrator Dale Fortenbacher is acting as interim superintendent.
“I’ve stayed in contact with the district over the couple years I’ve been out and done some work for them,” said Fortenbacher, who retired in 2005. “So Al called me up and asked on behalf of the board if I’d be willing to take over until a new superintendent is hired.”
Over the weekend, school board members invited the public to help interview three finalists for the superintendent’s post. The finalists were selected from 15 applicants for the job.
Finalists are:
The board is expected to make a decision by March 26. The new superintendent would start July 1.
Robinson moved from the 2,300-student Sultan School District to the 360-student Kwajalein school system.
Students come from families who work at the missile test site.
Life on “the Kwaj” is relatively laid back with bicycles and walking serving as the main modes of transportation.
The atoll is made up of 93 islets, with most of its population of 9,311 residing on Kwajalein and Ebeye islands.
Together, Kwajalein Atoll has just over 6 square miles of land and encloses 839.3 square miles of lagoon area, putting it among the world’s largest atolls.
Robinson said his wife, Sonya, will join him after completing the school year as secretary at Salem Woods Elementary in Monroe.
The couple has a blended family with six sons between them, the youngest of whom is 19.
“We thought it’s a good time in life for this kind of adventure,” Robinson said.
Next on his list: learning how to scuba dive.
Reporter Melissa Slager: 425-339-3465 or mslager@heraldnet.com.
Marshall Islands
Population: 60,422
Languages: Marshallese (official), though English is widely spoken
American ties: Attained independence in 1986 after nearly four decades under U.S. administration as a United Nations Trust Territory. Compensation claims continue as a result of U.S. nuclear testing there between 1947 and 1962. Kwajalein Atoll is host to the U.S. Army’s Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Site.
Location: About midway between Hawaii and Australia in the Pacific Ocean.
Geography: Two archipelagic island chains of 29 atolls, each made up of many small islets, and five single islands. Together, about the same area as Washington, D.C.
Time warp: Country is 19 hours ahead of the western United States. Workweek is Tuesday to Saturday to match the U.S. workweek.
Climate: Tropical, hot and humid. Wet season is May to November. Islands border typhoon belt.
Literacy rate: 93.7 percent
Exports: Copra cake, coconut oil, handicrafts, fish
Average temp: 80 degrees
Flora and fauna: Home to more than 180 species of coral and all five species of marine turtles. The Polynesian rat is the only mammal native to the islands.
Sources: CIA World Factbook; Marshall Islands U.S. Embassy
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