SNOHOMISH — His announcement was three short paragraphs posted on the Snohomish School District website and simply signed “Bill.”
Superintendent Bill Mester will retire at the end of the school year, ending a 43-year career in education that includes 35 years leading school districts.
His wife, Fran Mester, assistant superintendent in the neighboring Monroe School District, also is retiring.
Both have spent their careers in education. In the early 1970s, she began as a speech and language pathologist; he led a classroom of behaviorally challenged students. They migrated west from first jobs in Pennsylvania to Michigan then to eastern Washington and finally Snohomish County.
During 14 years in Snohomish, Bill Mester endured a teacher strike, survived a battle with cancer and oversaw hundreds of millions of dollars in construction projects.
Snohomish became a two high school district under his watch.
Through it all, Mester said he was impressed by the sense of ownership the community has in its schools and its willingness to reach consensus. Voters approved about $300 million in construction projects, including a new aquatics center as well as new and rebuilt schools. With state matching money and interest, the total investment was close to $500 million.
“It is a community that is very willing to come together and talk matters over,” he said.
Jay Hagen, who has served on the Snohomish School Board for nearly 19 years, said Mester has been a good fit for Snohomish.
“It’s a sad day for the Snohomish School District,” Hagen said. “He is going to be hard to replace.”
Mester began as superintendent in Snohomish in July 2002. Two months later, teachers in the district went on strike after not having a contract in place for the second straight fall.
What impressed Hagen was watching how Mester built relationships during the strike and afterward.
Fran Mester said her husband relied on his experience.
“He knew how not to let things escalate,” she said. “Bill is a very strategic thinker… He was very concerned about how you build relationships when the strike is over, that how you go through the strike influences how you come out of it.”
Mester said he figured time would be better spent at the bargaining table than in a courtroom trying to force the issue.
In 2007, Mester was diagnosed with a rare form of non-Hodgkins lymphoma. He underwent radiation, chemotherapy and roughly a dozen blood transfusions along with a stem-cell transplant.
Ninety of his employees found a way to show support on a single day, rolling up a sleeve, offering a vein and donating blood. They knew he’d come to appreciate how precious a gift blood is and how important the donations are.
Mester had faith in his staff to run the district smoothly in his absence while he was able to concentrate on his treatment and getting better.
“I cannot say enough about the support that the Snohomish School District provided,” Fran Mester said.
Before taking jobs in Snohomish County, the Mesters had experience working in neighboring districts. Fran was executive director of curriculum and instruction in Spokane while Bill was superintendent in next-door Mead.
Fifteen years ago, Fran took the assistant superintendent job in Monroe. Bill had told her it was her turn to make the career move, that he would follow when he fulfilled his commitment in Mead. They spent a year apart. Bill was prepared to take a job doing something other than being a superintendent.
“It was the leap of faith,” Fran Mester said. “We weren’t going to go more than a year of being apart and then Snohomish opened up.”
The couple spent a year looking for the right place. They found a home not far from Snohomish High School.
They have no firm plans for the future. By design, they won’t make any major decisions during the first six months of retirement. Instead, they’ll busy themselves with simple pleasures, such as making jams and marmalades with local fresh berries.
The school board will begin its search process soon. Mester is making a $234,820 base salary and $284,813 in total compensation.
“The school board hopes to have the position filled by early spring,” school district spokeswoman Kristin Foley said.
The district, which has about 9,900 students, will begin gathering information from school employees and people living in the community after winter break.
Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446; stevick@heraldnet.com.
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