Peninsula school board will offer ‘interim’ superintendent a third year at helm
The Peninsula School Board intends to offer Dr. Art Jarvis a contract for another year as interim superintendent when his current contracts expires in June, it emerged at board meeting last week.
Jarvis, a former superintendent of the Tacoma School District and several others, has been interim superintendent since July 2018. His current contract ends on June 30, 2020.
“We’ve been blessed with having one of the most experienced and knowledgeable superintendents in the state for the past 18 months,” said board president Deborah Krishnadasan. “Although he’s unable to commit to a long term contract, he has stated he will continue as our superintendent for as long as we want or need him. We believe it is in the best interest of our district to ask him to stay on for another year.”
Krishnadasan noted that Jarvis was instrumental in passing two critical funding measures for the district: a $198 million Capital Projects Bond to alleviate overcrowding at the district’s elementary schools and an $80 million operations levy, renewed by voters Feb. 11, to fund the ongoing operations of the district.
During the Feb. 12 meeting, board members cited the following reasons to continue working with Jarvis for the 2020-2021 school year:
● The district is in the middle of an aggressive school construction schedule for four new elementary school buildings. Dr. Jarvis’ has had years of experience guiding capital construction projects and meeting deadlines.
● The board wants to complete a strategic planning process and have a plan in place for the 2020-2021 school year. This process will give board members time to identify the qualities desired in a long-term superintendent.
The board is targeting next fall to start the superintendent search, with the goal of hiring a permanent superintendent in July 2021.
“This timeline will allow us the opportunity to attract the most qualified candidates available, involve proper stakeholders and take time to find the best long-term fit for our district and community,” said Krishnadasan.
Unable to retire
Jarvis has worked 54 years in education, 31 of them as a superintendent. After retiring from the Enumclaw School District, he has taken on four jobs as an interim superintendent in various districts.
“I was not planning on working, I was planning on being retired,” Jarvis said when he was hired for a second term at the Peninsula School District last year. “But work seems to keep happening.”
Jarvis’s second career dates back to 2007, when he took a job as interim superintendent at Tacoma Public Schools. The job was supposed to last a year. He ended up working there for five years.
Jarvis then re-retired, but came out of retirement again shortly after to be the interim superintendent at Shelton for a year, then at Renton for two years.
Before coming to Tacoma, Jarvis served as chief financial officer for the Seattle School District from January through July 2007. Before that, he served 11 years as superintendent in the Enumclaw School District, 11 years as superintendent of South Whidbey Island School District, 12 years as assistant superintendent in Enumclaw, two years as special education consultant for Seattle schools and as a teacher in Walla Walla Couny and Enumclaw.
This story was originally published February 18, 2020 at 12:00 AM.