Riverside Picks Administrative Team Decision-Making Duo Will Act As Interim Superintendent

Just in time for the start of school Monday, the Riverside School District’s board of directors named an administrative duo to temporarily fill the vacant superintendent slot.

Galen Hansen and Janet Kemp will work as a decision-making team through the end of the school year, with Hansen as the lead member and official superintendent. Hansen has been the district’s vocational director, and Kemp is the alternative high school’s principal. Board members voted for them unanimously Friday.

“It was an excellent decision,” said board member Paula Thorngate. “Galen is a successful administrator already, and he works well with Janet, who is also a successful administrator. And of all the candidates, they were the only ones who said they love kids. That was a major thing for me.”

The interim superintendent team fills a hole left by Jerry Wilson, who served as Riverside’s superintendent for 21 years. He agreed to a buyout of the three remaining years of his contract Aug. 4, after months of discord with the district’s teachers.

Then on Aug. 22, Assistant Superintendent Terry Weinmann announced his retirement. He had been with the district 14 years.

Board members plan to start the search for a permanent superintendent in November. But in the meantime, they feel they are in capable hands. On Monday, several teachers, parents and administrators proudly wore buttons proclaiming: “Part of the new spirit and pride at Riverside.”

“(Hansen and Kemp) are proven leaders, and they are known by the community and staff,” said School Board President Janet Hansen, sister-in-law of Galen Hansen. “We wish them the best, and they have our support.”

Galen Hansen has been part of the Riverside School District since fifth grade. He has been employed by the district since 1980, nearly the whole time as vocational director. In that position, he developed on-site small businesses and a technology curriculum that has been adopted by the state. He also serves as the director of Washington state REAL, the alternative-learning school.

The vocational director duties will now fall to his secretary, Talana Mielke, as Hansen devotes his full attention to the superintendent position.

“I am excited and looking forward to working with the community,” Hansen said. “We’re ready to be helpful wherever we can.”

Kemp has been employed by the district since 1986. She will continue serving as the alternative school principal as she takes on some of the superintendent duties as well.

“We’re trying to save the district money,” Kemp said. “And two heads are better than one.”

A formal contract has not been signed yet, but Kemp said Hansen will likely receive the same salary he did as vocational director, while she will just add a few extra hours to her time sheet.

Thorngate said Hansen’s original proposal would save the district roughly $66,000. Wilson made about $140,000 a year in salary and benefits, while Weinmann made roughly $100,000 in salary and benefits.

Since the decision was announced at noon Friday, Hansen and Kemp have been addressing issues as they arise. Topping their to-do list, Kemp said, is setting goals, working to get the budget in order, establishing curriculum committees and being aware.

“Right now, we’re an ear to everybody,” she said.

She said she hopes the Riverside community celebration Saturday at 11:30 a.m. at the high school, featuring state schools Superintendent Terry Bergeson as speaker, will be the “culmination of a great week.”

As for Washington state’s teacher of the year Marvin Sather, it appears he won’t rejoin the staff at Riverside High School as an honors English teacher.

Though he continues to work for his brother-in-law, who is president of A-L Compressed Gases Inc., Sather has been interviewing with Eastern Washington University. Nothing is definite yet, but Sather said he hopes to be an adjunct professor working with student teachers this January.