Candidates narrowed to three
After a 90-minute executive session Thursday night, the Central Valley board of directors voted unanimously to invite superintendent candidates Pete Lewis, Donald “Mick” Miller and Ben Small for further interviews.
The board members were impressed with the seven candidates who applied for the position opened by the retiring Mike Pearson. “Each one of the candidates is highly educated in K-12 education and has a passion for it,” said board member Cindy McMullen.
The candidates will each spend a day in the district with staff and students and tour the district. There will be community forums Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in the Central Valley High School theater with the candidates. The public will be able to ask questions.
The seven candidates have been through preliminary interviews, where the public could watch but not participate. The board and a specially picked stakeholder group asked questions during two evenings. The stakeholder group included staff, parents and community members.
The board was uniform in its praise of Pete Lewis, superintendent of Clarkston School District. He grew up in the area and holds a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in education from Whitworth University. He was a teacher at Libby Middle School in Spokane from 1982-1987 and an assistant principal at Glover Middle School from 1987-1993. After five years as principal at Shaw Middle School he became principal of Mt. Spokane High School. He’s currently a candidate for a doctoral degree from Washington State University.
“He did a lot of research on our district,” said board member Anne Long. “He knows what he’d be dealing with and he still wants to come here.”
“The stakeholder panel loved him,” said board president Tom Dingus.
The board was also impressed by Ben Small’s energy. “I appreciated his youthful energy and the vision he had for the district,” said board member Keith Clark.
Small, currently superintendent of Columbia School District in Burbank, Wash., also attended local schools. He is a graduate of Spokane Falls Community College and earned a bachelor’s degree in secondary education and a master’s in school administration from Eastern Washington University. Prior to his current position he was the executive director for teaching and learning and was the Columbia Middle School principal from 1996-2003. He was an administrative intern at Garrison Middle School in the Walla Walla School District from 1995-1996 and before that had been a teacher at Garrison Middle School for six years.
“Ben Small just energized me when he talked about moving to the next level,” McMullen saud.
“He was the best mix of energy, vision and knowledge,” said Dingus.
Miller, a Shadle Park High School graduate, is superintendent of Deer Park School District. He has spent most of his career in the area, serving as principal of Mead High School from 1996-2004. His one departure was as principal of Kelso High School in Kelso, Wash., from 1994-1996. Before that he was assistant principal at North Central High School from 1990-1994 and a teacher at North Central from 1983-1990. He has a bachelor’s degree in history from Washington State University and a master’s degree in school administration from Whitworth University.
Board member Debbie Long called Miller “a good fit for CV,” while Dingus liked his track record in Deer Park. “He’s done good work up there,” he said. “His references are strong.”
The board is expected to select the district’s next superintendent during a special board meeting at 7 a.m. Friday. Lewis is also a finalist for the superintendent position at East Valley, which will select its next superintendent during a special board meeting today. The CV board hopes that nothing would change even if Lewis is selected for the East Valley position. “At this point we would hope he would come to the final interview,” Dingus said.