On Tuesday, April 8, the the Orcas Island School District Board came out of their earlier Executive Session and reconvened the Special Meeting.
A motion was then made by Tony Ghazel and seconded by Chris Sutton to offer an employment contract for District Superintendent to Eric Webb, pending mutual agreement by both parties. The motion passed unanimously.
Contract negotiations are currently under way.
**If you are reading theOrcasonian for free, thank your fellow islanders. If you would like to support theOrcasonian CLICK HERE to set your modestly-priced, voluntary subscription. Otherwise, no worries; we’re happy to share with you.**
I’m stunned by this decision. Having attended the community meetings with all three candidates and read the supporting materials (at least those provided to the public) in detail, I considered Eric Webb a weak candidate, in a distant third place behind the other two. I believe the School Board needs to justify this decision to the community at large, by explaining to us why he stands out from the other two on the criteria developed in concert with the Orcas community and educators.
I was not able to attend every community forum, but was able to research and have discussions with many who did. In each discussion, a different candidate was named as #1 on someones list. Mr. Webb certainly was a very different candidate than the others, but perhaps our current board realized that his skill set is what the district needs at this point in time.
In my opinion, the board did a good job of making candidates available to the public and putting the candidates in touch with the critical organizations within the district.
To require them to “justify” their decision seems out of line. All three candidates came from a much larger pool and were all fully qualified for the job. It is not like they selected me for the job – now that would have been a bad decision! The board has allowed us to speak and be heard and they picked the candidate that they felt fit within the districts needs.
I, for one, look forward to new leadership that will hopefully bring a renewed sense of morale and trust back that has been lacking for way too long. Until Mr.Webb gets here and is able to put his skills to work, I, for one, will not be asking the board to justify anything.
Welcome to Mr. Webb.
Gee, when Mr. Paulsen was running for School Board last year, he was all in favor of accountability. In his Orcas Issues guest column, for example, he stated that “it will be crucial that the next School Board assures transparency and accountability. . . ” In fact he used “accountable” or “accountability” three times in that brief article. Flip, flop.
I’m only asking that the Board exhibit the same accountability he sought in making one of the most important — if not THE most important — decisions it will ever make, one that will affect the Orcas Island school district and community for years to come.
Accountability when due. Transparency always.
In my opinion the process was transparent and the proper accounting has been made with regard to the decision. No flip. No flop.
I believe personnel actions cannot be discussed outside of Executive Session with meaningful content, including final hiring and firing decisions. It’s one of the responsibilities we delegate to board members when we elect them. I’d be happy to learn differently, in case a reader knows.