It’s time for a reset with school leadership

The school board voted Tuesday night (June 20) to extend superintendent Regan Nickels’ contract until June 30, 2026, and gave her a raise to $241,960 next year with raises for the following years as well, plus all the perks.

If there is such a “budget crunch,” how is this a fiscally responsible use of public tax dollars?

To put this into perspective,

• The governor of Washington State makes $190,000

• The Port Angeles Superintendent makes $166,000

• The Superintendent of Public Instruction (the person in charge of all superintendents in the state) makes $153,000

• The Wenatchee School District just signed a two-year contract for a superintendent for $220,000 a year. Wenatchee School District has 19 schools and 7,400 students.

Our superintendent manages six schools and 2,500 students for $242,000. Are we overpaying? Yes!

The school board and superintendent have repeatedly changed the narrative as to why they decided to reconfigure our elementary students, and they have consistently ignored emails or sent a canned response that doesn’t answer the question asked. They have ignored numerous public comments in which teachers, parents, and community members have asked them to stop or delay the reconfiguration plan.

The current board lacks transparency, collaboration, and accountability.

The graduation rate at Sequim School District is 71.7 percent. It has dropped by 15 percentage points in the last five years. That puts our school in the bottom 50 percent of all the schools in Washington state.

Yet this board is focused on shuffling students unnecessarily to give the illusion of higher test scores. It’s time for a reset. Make your vote count this election. Vote out the incumbents!

Diane Barth

Sequim