Freeman Schools Get New Superintendent

Sat., May 1, 1999

By Marny Lombard marnyl@spokesman.com (509) 927-2166

Leadership of the Freeman School District will go to the superintendent of the Garfield/Palouse school districts.

The Freeman School Board announced at its Thursday meeting that Bill Thurston will become the district’s new superintendent.

Thurston’s small-school experience and values make him the best fit for the district, said Ron Fulkerson, chairman of the Freeman school board.

“This was probably the toughest decision the board’s had in a long time,” Fulkerson said.

“Bill seemed to fit the Freeman community a little better than some of the others. … It was clear that he had community support and staff support.”

Thurston replaces Harry Amend, who is resigning after nine years at Freeman to become superintendent of schools in Kalispell, Mont.

Freeman High School Principal Dennis Schuerman is retiring at the end of the year. The district has selected four top candidates for that position. Interviews for all four are scheduled for next week.

Thurston’s salary will be $78,500.

He will join Freeman formally after the end of the school year, but plans are for him to be involved next week in hiring the next principal of Freeman High School.

Thurston describes himself as a people person.

“I’m not a techie person and I’m not a big grant writer. I’m competent in those things,” Thurston said, “My strengths are in personal relationships.”

Freeman Elementary Principal Nancy Comstock, who coincidentally started her teaching career in Garfield/Palouse, said she’s delighted with her new boss. Comstock told of an exchange between Thurston and her staff members while he visited the district.

Someone asked Thurston what integrity means to him.

“I think Bill’s response was one that captured people’s attention,” Comstock said. “He talked about being true to ideals, being true to ideas you believe in, being consistent, being kind, being just. That would sum him up.”

He began his career as a counselor in 1975 in a small school district on the Olympic Peninsula. He taught and counseled high school students in Newport from 1978 to 1989. He then moved to the Palouse School District as a principal, and moved to his current position in 1991.

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