WV picks Crowley as new leader

The West Valley School District Board of Directors has selected someone familiar to lead the district.

The board Wednesday unanimously chose Assistant Superintendent Polly Crowley as superintendent.

“I couldn’t ask for a better place to be,” said Crowley, who agreed to a three-year contract.

Crowley became interim superintendent in January, when Dave Smith stepped down after 15 years to oversee the remodel of West Valley High School. Voters passed a $35 million bond in May for the high school project, to expand the four elementary schools and for maintenance work on the two middle schools.

The board had previously discussed whether to conduct a search or offer Crowley the job, said Jim Williams, board chairman.

“Superintendent searches can be very tedious,” Williams said. “This is the opposite of that.”

Crowley said the district, like many others, faces challenges meeting mandates such as the Washington Assessment of Student Learning.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do, but we’ve got a lot of people that work so well together in this district,” she said.

Crowley, 58, was assistant superintendent for five years and was previously an assistant principal at the high school.

Her husband, Thomas Crowley, is the superintendent of Rosalia School District in Whitman County.

“Needless to say, we don’t talk education at the dinner table,” she said.