by MICHAEL DASHIELL
Sequim Gazette
Each year in a pre-school year staff meeting, Kelly Shea tells Sequim’s administrators, teachers and other staffers his expectation is that they make taking care of themselves and their families their top priority.
Shea, Sequim’s schools superintendent, is taking a bit of his own advice.
Shea is one of three finalists for the open superintendent position for the East Valley (Spokane) School District. East Valley school officials say Shea is a finalist and will be taking part in a full-day interview there on March 5.
Other finalists are Kathryn Orozco, superintendent of the Whitefish School District in Whitefish, Mont., and Tom Gresch, interim superintendent at East Valley.
East Valley school district officials scheduled a full-day interview with Orozco for March 3 and one with Gresch for March 4.
East Valley’s school board directors are scheduled to meet following Shea’s interview March 5 and may make a decision as early as that evening.
Shea said he considered and finally applied for the position in January for family reasons. Shea’s mother was diagnosed with cancer last March and has undergone chemotherapy treatment since, and last November Shea’s stepfather died, he said.
“There’s only one place I’d be willing to leave Sequim for — that’s Spokane Valley,” Shea said. “If I can, I’d like to live close to my mom in case the cancer comes back. I don’t know when the next opportunity will be.”
Born in Spokane, Shea lived in Oklahoma for about four years before returning to Spokane to start schooling. Shea spent about a year-and-a-half in each of the East Valley and West Valley Spokane schools but spent the bulk of his own school years — about 10 — in Spokane’s Central Valley School District. He received a bachelor’s degree, master’s degree and principal certification from Spokane’s Whitworth University and his Washington state superintendent certification from Washington State University.
Shea then worked as an elementary school teacher in Spokane for 11 years and as an elementary school principal for the Mead (1998-2004) and Central Valley (2004-2007) school districts before becoming executive director of Human Services with the Mead School District in Spokane.
The Sequim school board hired Shea in July 2012.
“Sequim has exceeded our expectations; my wife (Mary) and I love living here,” Shea said. “We’re not looking to leave Sequim. When we moved here I was not looking to retire here. That would have taken me 17 years. I thought five, six or seven years before we looked for a way to be (back) home.
“East Valley is an exceptional school district,” Shea said. “This allows me to continue to be a superintendent but really (this) is about family.”
Now, Shea is one of three finalists to take the lead administrative role at East Valley, a school district with more than 4,000 students, seven schools, 480 staff members and an annual operating budget of $44.4 million.
“It’s kind of the nature of the job: superintendents gain experience and if they really serve us well, sometimes they’re ready to move on,” Sequim school board president Bev Horan said. “In his case it’s much more understandable because of his family.
Horan has worked as a board member with the two previous superintendents, Garn Christensen and Bill Bentley.
“Of the three, he (Shea) is the best in communicating with the community,” Horan said.
Shea said Sequim’s two recent school construction bonds that voters didn’t approve (one in April 2014, the other on Feb. 10) was not a factor in his decision to apply for the East Valley position.
“The failure of the bond makes me want to stay; I’m a competitive person,” Shea said.
Shea said he notified Sequim school board members before he applied. Three of those school board members — board president Horan, John Bridge and Walter Johnson — were on the board when they hired Shea in 2012.
“I really like what he’s done here,” Bridge said of Shea. “Were going on a good course. Anyone who comes in now (as superintendent), we’re still going the same way.”
If Shea is offered and takes the position at East Valley, Sequim school board members indicated Monday evening they’d be interested in hiring McPherson & Jacobson, the superintendent search firm they used to hire Shea, for their next search.
“That might save us some money because they already have all of our background information in their system, Horan said. “It should shorten their process. They did a good job for us (last time).”
Horan said that she hopes the school district doesn’t have to find a new superintendent, but if it does, she’d want to see someone with good leadership, someone who is committed to spending time communicating with the community and someone familiar with school bonds and construction.
Previous story:
Sequim schools superintendent Kelly Shea is one of three finalists for the open superintendent position for the East Valley (Spokane) School District, he said Feb. 26.
According to the Spokesman Review, Spokane’s daily newspaper, the East Valley School District board narrowed its superintendent search to six semifinalists in mid-February — with Shea among them — and would select three candidates for final interviews in early March.
Shea said he received contact Thursday from East Valley school officials that he’s a finalist and will be taking part in a full-day interview there on March 5.
Other finalists are Kathryn Orozco, superintendent of the Whitefish School District in Whitefish, Mont., and Tom Gresch, interim superintendent at East Valley. East Valley school district officials have scheduled a full-day interview with Orozco for March 3 and one with Gresch for March 4.
The Sequim superintendent said he considered and finally applied for the position in January for family reasons. Shea’s mother was diagnosed with cancer last March and has undergone chemotherapy treatment since, and last November Shea’s stepfather died, he said.
“There’s only one place I’d be willing to leave Sequim for — that’s Spokane Valley,” Shea said. “If I can, I’d like to live close to my mom in case the cancer comes back. I don’t know when the next opportunity will be.”
The Sequim School Board hired Shea in July of 2012.
“Sequim has exceeded our expectations; my wife and I love living here,” Shea said. “We’re not looking to leave Sequim. (But) when we moved here I was not looking to retire here. That would have taken me 17 years. I thought five, six or seven years before we looked for a way to be (back) home. East Valley is an exceptional school district and (this) allows me to continue to be a superintendent but really (this) is about family.”
Shea said Sequim’s two recent school construction bonds that voters didn’t approve (one in April 2014, the other on Feb. 10) was not a factor in his decision to apply for the East Valley position.
“The failure of the bond makes me want to stay; I’m a competitive person,” Shea said.
Read more in the Wednesday print and online edition of the Sequim Gazette on March 4.
