The Shoreline School District might soon have a new superintendent.
School Board members hope to name a successor to Jim Welsh at their June 5 meeting, though nothing’s officially been declared.
“The Board hopes to have a superintendent in place by the next Board meeting of June 5,” said Mike Jacobs, Board president.
Whether that superintendent will be permanent or a temporary interim is being decided, Jacobs said.
“But probably not an interim,” he said. “(It’s) still in negotiations.”
Jacobs declined to comment on who could be named. He also opted to hold off on describing the process Board members have taken thus far to fill the position — for example, interviewing candidates or doing a search.
There are no public district meetings until June 5.
Superintendent James Welsh was placed on administrative leave, with pay, April 3, and still is on leave. He hasn’t resigned, nor has he been fired, but he has no power to act on behalf of the district.
“He’s still on administrative leave and the Board is still working with legal counsel to resolve that issue,” Jacobs said.
There’s no set time line for a resolution.
“Again, the sooner the better,” Jacobs said.
Acting superintendent Linda Johnson will leave the district May 30.
At the start of the May 15 Board meeting, Jacobs announced Johnson was sick and couldn’t attend the meeting. At meeting’s end hours later, he read a statement from Johnson that said she’d leave her position May 30. The sudden announcement drew a gasp from a woman in the audience.
“The new superintendent will be named in the future and I don’t know when that will be,” Johnson said in an interview, explaining her departure. “The Board needs to move forward with their long term plans and I’m moving forward with my long term plans, which is to move to Oregon.”
Johnson has accepted a superintendent job in Oregon that starts July 1. She’ll move there in June, she said.
It’s not been decided officially who will run the district between Johnson’s departure and the naming of a successor, but there is an automatic chain of command, said Marjorie Ledell, executive director of Community Relations and District Services.
“Normally what happens (is) there’s a built-in successor when the superintendent leaves, even temporarily, (for example) on vacation,” she said. “The second person is the back-up and becomes acting superintendent. I would imagine that Sue Walker would automatically become acting superintendent.”
Sue Walker is assistant superintendent and is second in command after Johnson..
Johnson has worked for the district for 33 years. As acting superintendent her most recent role, she made information public that had been hidden for years, setting the district on firmer legal ground.
For example, she convened a committee to examine the use of capitol fund dollars under Welsh’s rein. Employee groups had asked for that information repeatedly from district officials while Welsh was superintendent, without success.
The committee decided that Welsh took a questionable approach to capital fund dollars and set the district on firmer legal ground by changing course. Johnson made the information public in April.
“I would like to say she did a real good job and stepped forward in a very difficult time,” Jacobs said. “We appreciate her efforts in moving forward in such a difficult crisis and we wish her the best at her new position.”
Johnson said she was proud of her work as acting superintendent and in the three previous decades.
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