CV Superintendent Takes New Job Sovde Leaving Valley To Head Puyallup, Wash., Schools

The head of Spokane County’s second-largest school district was chosen Friday to become superintendent of the Puyallup, Wash., School District, near Tacoma.

Dick Sovde has been superintendent of the Central Valley School District in the Spokane Valley since 1986. In Puyallup, a district of 17,000 students and 2,000 employees, he’ll make between $105,000 and $110,000.

Sovde, 60, presently makes $93,000 at Central Valley, which has 10,300 students and 1,100 employees. His contract with CV ends Sept. 1.

“This is an opportunity that’s too good not to pursue,” Sovde said, adding that he was sad to leave Central Valley.

Central Valley School Board members have not made any decisions about who will replace Sovde, but said they will either conduct a fast search or find someone to take over on an interim basis.

“It does kind of put us in a predicament for the fall,” said board member Cheryl Knighton. “There’s really not much time to do an effective search.”

Problems Sovde faces in Puyallup are overcrowding at the district’s two high schools and a lack of communication between the school district and the community, said Puyallup board member Mindy Thompson.

“The communication issue is probably the No. 1 concern the public expressed during the search,” Thompson said. Sovde was easily the district’s top pick because of his honesty, confidence and collaborative management style, she said.

Central Valley has struggled with problems similar to those in Puyallup. School Board members have been trying to come up with alternative ways to house students, rather than building new classrooms, after the failure of four consecutive bond issues.

Central Valley plans to run another bond election within the next year, board member Linda Tompkins said. Although the amount and date have not been set, the bond will target building an elementary school in Liberty Lake and remodeling Bowdish Junior High, Tompkins said.

Many in the Central Valley School District call Sovde a visionary leader who always supports his staff.

“Dick has the ability to kind of look down the road and see what’s coming before it gets here,” said Carol Peterson, director of elementary education.

For example, she said, to foster better communication with the community and take some burden off the principals, Sovde created a public information officer position. He also set up parent advisory councils and collaborative bargaining between the teachers’ association and the School Board.

“(Sovde) can see the whole picture,” said Mike Pearson, director of secondary education. “That’s probably what I’ll miss most.”

Sovde beat out two other finalists for the Puyallup job.

Puyallup’s former superintendent, Herbert Berg, left the district in May to accept a job in Alexandria, Va.

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