School board unanimously chooses Thomas

The school board voted 5-0 Saturday to select Jay Thomas of Unalakleet as the next superintendent of Wrangell Schools.

Both of the two finalists for the position – Thomas and Delta-Greeley High School principal Patrick Mayer - were equally qualified, said school board President Susan Eagle.

"I don't think there was anything in particular" that led the board to choose Thomas and not Mayer, she said. "I felt that the candidates were very well qualified, and we just made the decision to go with Mr. Thomas."

A pending realignment of state standards is among the top issues facing Thomas, Eagle said.

"Next year we have changing standards with our Alaska standards going into effect and teacher evaluations, and those are probably going to be the two biggest issues," she said. "We also have our food service program that we're working with so that will be another issue."

Other school board members referred calls for comment to Eagle.

Thomas also cited the new standards as a big issue.

"I think the biggest issues are really getting on board with the changes that are happening statewide," he said. School officials "are coming to grips with the fact that we have new standards coming in, we've got new assessments and a different evaluation system that's being mandated by the state."

Thomas was happy to accept the position.

"I'm very excited," he said. "The board actually moved their dates to accommodate my schedule, and I am thrilled with the opportunity to interview and be selected."

"Wrangell is obviously a great place to be," he added. "The community is supportive of the schools, so I'm very excited."

Thomas, presently an assistant superintendent and curriculum director with the Bering Strait school system, will move into the new position July 1, per the terms of the contract he accepted Saturday. In his new position, he will earn an annual salary of $110,000 per year. That amount is the maximum the school board had advertised for the position when the search for a new superintendent began in December. School officials had already budgeted the maximum amount in previously released draft versions of the system's budget.

He will replace outgoing superintendent Rich Rhodes who announced his resignation in December. Rhodes has said he planned to return to California to follow his older children.

Thomas along with Delta-Greeley High School principal Patrick Mayer conducted a whirlwind visit to Wrangell this weekend, starting with a Friday afternoon staff meet-and-greet, followed by a public reception Friday evening. Mayer and Thomas participated in a marathon six-hour closed door executive session interview, followed by a brief open meeting to announce the hiring decision.

The decision to hire Thomas effectively completes a personnel shuffle of the top administrative positions at the school system, following a school board vote to separate the previously conjoined positions of superintendent and elementary school principal – held by Rhodes for the first semester of the 2013-14 school year – and the previously announced retirement of current secondary principal and activities director Monty Buness set for the end of this school year.

Deidre Jenson will move into the reverted Evergreen Elementary School principalship permanently this year, after having served as a temporary replacement for 2014.

Colter Barnes, a principal-teacher with the Lake and Peninsula school system on the Alaskan Peninsula, has been offered a contract to replace Buness.