School board approves extension of superintendent’s contract

By Michael Dashiell • June 28, 2023 1:30 am
Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell / Work crews clear debris from the Sequim High School gymnasium floor last week. The decades-old floor used for volleyball and basketball games and gym classes is getting a makeover, funded by a capital projects levy voters approved in February 2021.
Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell / Work crews clear debris from the Sequim High School gymnasium floor last week. The decades-old floor used for volleyball and basketball games and gym classes is getting a makeover, funded by a capital projects levy voters approved in February 2021.

Schools superintendent Regan Nickels last week gave Sequim School Board members an overview of the district’s strategic plan last week, including statistics about participation, goals and next steps.

Nickels will likely get to see the strategic plan formalized even more after the board unanimously approved extension of her three-year contract.

Board directors agreed — with no discussion — at the June 20 regular board meeting to extend Nickels’ contract into June 2026, with an average base salary of $241,960 for 2023-24.

Projects, updated

Chris Mafori, a project manager with the Wenaha Group, gave an update on numerous part of the capital projects levy that voters approved in February 2021.

He said 6-foot-tall fencing is being put in at Olympic Peninsula Academy, providing the Sequim school with more security. Gates look to be installed this week.

Sequim High School’s gymnasium floor is in the process of being torn up and replaced, Marfori noted at the June 20 meeting. Work crews will pull out the bleachers to remove the flooring beneath them.

After the July 4 holiday, Marfori said work will ramp up in the Rick Kaps gymnasium, with new striping included with the new flooring along with new volleyball nets.

Gym refurbishing will likely be completed by the middle of August, Marfori said.

Crews will also be working on new roofs for the gym, auxiliary gym and Sequim High cafeteria and auditorium a little later this summer, he said, with materials being torn away starting Aug. 1 and roof work to be completed by Aug. 30.

“Those are 30-year-old roofs [being installed],” Marfori said.

Crews are also doing an ADA compliance survey at Sequim High School, he said.

Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell / Sequim School District teachers gather outside the district office on May 31 as they negotiate contracts with administrators.

Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell / Sequim School District teachers gather outside the district office on May 31 as they negotiate contracts with administrators.

The district is also upgrading its internet capability, Marfori noted last week, with WiFi cabling being replaced this summer.

“That should significantly change everyone’s growing pains with the WiFi,” he said.

Updates will be posted on the district’s website (sequimschools.org) as work progresses, Marfori said.

New middle school principal named

Following the resignation of Sequim Middle School principal Mark Harris, Sequim school board members agreed last week to hire a familiar face to educators on the Olympic Peninsula.

Board directors unanimously agree to hire Kristen Lunt, most recently principal at Stevens Middle School in Port Angeles for SMS’s top administrator role.

“We had a candidate pool that was very strong,” Nickels said. “She is very eager to join our team.”

Said board president Eric Pickens, who teaches in Port Angeles, “I know she will be missed in Port Angeles but I’m ecstatic she’s here in Sequim.”

Harris was the school’s principal since 2019 before resigning the position in May.

Other board action

The board voted to accept a collective bargaining agreement with the Sequim Education Association, the local teachers’ union and bargaining group, 4-0 (Pickens abstained).

Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell / Saralyn Pozernick, president for the Sequim Education Association, speaks with fellow teachers as they gather outside the district office on May 31 during contract negotiations with administrators.

Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell / Saralyn Pozernick, president for the Sequim Education Association, speaks with fellow teachers as they gather outside the district office on May 31 during contract negotiations with administrators.

The two-year contract (through Aug. 31, 2025) includes added class size limits for Dungeness Virtual School, increased overage compensation per student and increased allotted personal leave days (from to to three per year).

“This was a very efficient process but it wasn’t rushed,” Nickels said.

Board members agreed to accept two donations from community groups: a $2,250 donation from St. Luke’s Episcopal Church to help McKinney-Vento students pay for driver’s education courses, and $2,500 from Sequim Sunrise Rotary for gift cards for graduating McKinney-Vento students. (The McKinney-Vento act looks to assist students who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, and are often referred to as “homeless.”)

The board agreed to cutting two district staff classified positions, one from the District Employee Support Association and another from the Public School Employees group.

Ariana Salas was named the board’s new junior class student board representative. Desara Bibaj moves up to the senior class board representative this fall.