Peninsula schools get new interim superintendent and board member

The Peninsula School District board has appointed a new interim superintendent and board member, filling the empty vacancies in its leadership.

The board voted unanimously Thursday to appoint Art Jarvis as interim superintendent and Lori Glover to fill in the open seat for District Three.

Jarvis has been a superintendent and interim superintendent in many local school districts, including Tacoma and Renton. Glover is a long-time resident and parent of school district graduates.

Board President Marcia Harris said she was glad the board had come together to make decisions for both positions.

“I expect (Jarvis) will begin in the district on Monday (July 30),” Harris said.

The superintendent position came open when Rob Manahan resigned after accepting a superintendent position with the Snoqualmie School District. The Peninsula School District’s chief financial officer, Karen Andersen, has been filling in an interim superintendent was named.

Jarvis will serve the district until the board finds a permanent superintendent.

Jarvis was Tacoma schools’ superintendent from 2007 to 2012, when he announced his retirement after working in education for more than 50 years, according to the district’s website. He was interim superintendent in Renton from 2014 to 2016, before the school district hired a permanent superintendent for 2017, according to its website..

Glover was chosen from four finalist to fill the board seat that had been empty since May, when Rand Wilhelmsen resigned. Glover’s term will end in 2019, when she will be up for election.

The board interviewed the four finalists during a special public meeting July 19. The other finalists were:

▪ Karin Ashbraner, a retired Peninsula School District teacher and veteran.

▪ Hassan Booker, a local parent and veteran from California.

▪ Laurel Kingsbury, a part-time substitute teacher for the district and mother of Peninsula students.

During the meeting, the board was divided, with half of its members voting to appoint Ashbraner and half voting for Booker. Harris decided the board should consider sending the finalists’ resumes to the Puget Sound Education Services District for an outside opinion.

During public comment at the meeting, residents asked the board to come together to make the decision and not rely on an outside voice.

“It’s ridiculous to ask someone who is not apart of the district to make such a big decision,” said Sami Jensen, a Gig Harbor resident.

Kingsbury spoke during the public period and said she thought the community was pressuring the board because of the importance of the decision.

“I think you are taking your time and trying to make the right decision,” she said.

The board went into executive session and then voted unanimously to appoint Jarvis and 3-0 to appoint Glover, with director Leslie Harbaugh abstaining from the vote on Glover.

IN OTHER NEWS

The school board voted unanimously to revise the district’s 2017-18 general fund budget.

The change was needed because the original $6.28 million budget was based on an expected 8,729 student enrollment, Anderson said. The amount of state money the district gets to pay teachers and staff members is based on student enrollment.

In the 2017-18 school year, the actual enrollment was 9,004, requiring another $3 million in state funds to cover the additional staff needs. The budget was changed after the state provided more funds because of the increased number of students.

When the school board adopts a budget, Anderson said, it also puts in place spending capacity to handle any additional revenue. In this case, the capacity was increased by $3 million to account for the additional money received from the state.

“We are not spending our contingency monies, but instead spending money we had,” Andersen said.

She also discussed the preliminary budget for the 2018-19 school year. It is set at $6.97 million, up from the initial estimated $6.28 million budget for the 2017-18 school year.

So far, 9,045 students have enrolled in the district.

The district expects to see less money from local taxes, such as the local levy, and from non-tax sources, such as class fees and donations, because it dropped career and technical education fees and driver’s education.

State funding is expected to increase because of the McCleary legal case, which required the Legislature to fully fund public schools. Other revenue will come from state programs such as special education and from federal programs.

The district expects to add 21 full-time equivalent teachers, including part-time teachers and employees whose pay add up to that of a full-time employee.

A final budget will be proposed Aug. 9 and with a board decision set for Aug. 21.

This story was originally published July 27, 2018 at 5:43 PM.