Thurston: ‘time to move on’

Freeman School District Superintendent Bill Thurston announced this week that he plans to retire at the end of the school year.

Thurston, 55, has been an educator for 31 years, and a Freeman Scottie for seven.

He came to the 900-student district 10 miles south of Spokane Valley from the Garfield-Palouse area, where he had been a principal for several years.

“I’ve had a good time; it’s time to move on,” Thurston said.

He said he plans to stay in the Freeman area, and look for work in a different field.

“I’m sure I’ll find something I enjoy,” Thurston said.

Thurston said he is proud of his accomplishments in Freeman, including having hired new middle school and high school principals before his retirement.

“I wanted to make sure we had the right people on board,” Thurston said.

Freeman School Board President Sue Cronk said Thurston is an example of the Washington state retirement system pushing veteran educators out of the business before they are ready. Under the state system, administrators don’t receive any additional retirement benefits after 30 years.

“The state makes it hard for educators to stay, especially in small districts,” Cronk said. “It’s a real shame to have to do that to our senior educators.” She said districts like Freeman end up losing a wealth of experience.

The school board said Tuesday it will decide in the coming weeks whether to use a search firm to find a replacement for Thurston, or to do it internally.

“It’s a big time commitment when you do it by yourself,” Cronk said. “People tend to want to come to Freeman. It won’t be easy.”

Some Freeman parents have said they hope the search process will be an open one, with the community involved in the decision making.

“The superintendent is pretty much the only administrative post that we should have a say on,” said parent Kate Coomes. “We just want to be proactive in saying that we are here, we support the district and we care. It’s not something that any of us in the community think should be overlooked.”

Coomes said the district is in a tough position right now, with voters being asked to approve a replacement maintenance and operations levy this spring, and three failed bonds in its history.

Voters rejected an $11.7 million construction bond in May to remodel the high school and elementary school buildings. Voters also rejected two $8 million bond issues, one in the fall and in the spring of 2002, to update the aging facilities.

The buildings have outdated heating, ventilation, electrical and plumbing systems, and the high school, built in 1957 for 150 students now has more than 300.

“We have very disparate communities out here,” Coomes said. In addition to Freeman, the schools include families from the Rockford, Valleyford, Hangman Hills and Mica areas.

“We need to have somebody who can reach out to people and bring those people together.”