Job Opening: Final five chosen for Royal School District Superintendent position

ROYAL CITY – The Royal School District Board of Directors has selected the final five candidates for superintendent, and they include well-known and long-standing RSD educator Andrew Perkins.

Four of the final five will visit the district for initial interviews on March 2-3. Perkins will interview. According to Business Manager David Andra, the candidates have a variety of qualities, experiences, and backgrounds that the board believes could be the right fit for the District.

According to Andra, the Board took steps to ensure a thorough and open process. It enlisted help from a large committee of stakeholders that included District staff and community members. The committee helped the board develop the list of qualities and qualifications that are most important to the community.

The Board then worked with the committee to hire a consultant who could lead the District through the process and help recruit viable candidates. The District chose Lloyd Olson, of Northwest Leadership Associates, to lead the charge.

The Board continued to involve the committee in narrowing the candidate pool down to the five who will interview on March 2-3.

“I am encouraged by the candidate pool and appreciate all of the work that Lloyd has put into the process to help us be as informed as possible,” Board President Michael Noftle said. “I also appreciate the willingness of our selection committee to contribute their time and provide their insight on such a critical decision.”

Perkins has worked in the district for 15 years. He started as a teacher and is now the director of Career and Technical Training and athletic director for the district.

A Walla Walla native and Central Washington University graduate, Perkins was an officer in the Air Force. He was also publisher of the newspaper in Royal City back in the day and mayor of the community.

Perkins applied because of his experience in the community, as well as at the schools. He believes he can pull the community together after the controversy that ended Rose Search’s time here and left the community divided.

It will take several qualities and talents to pull the community back together, including communications, educational experience, organizational experience and business experience. Perkins has them all.

“Today’s superintendent has to be able to go out into the community and present the needs of the District and gather ideas to build a stronger base for the students,” Perkins said.

As a superintendent in Royal, Perkins would have a recruitment program for Royal graduates to return to their roots as teachers. He has taught more than 1,000 Royal graduates and says some of Royal’s future teachers should be among them.

The other four candidates are Roger Trail, James Busey, Pete Perez and Timothy Bronk. All are well-trained, educated and experienced. Busey and Perez are most likely to know something about Royal.

Trail is the executive director of human resources for Clarkston School District. He is a former special services director and high school administrator.

Busey is a retired former superintendent of the Richland, Chelan, and Zillah School Districts. He is a Yakima Valley man, having grown up in Naches.

Perez is an elementary principal and superintendent intern for Othello School District. He is a former assistant principal at various levels and CTE director for Othello School District.

Bronk is the superintendent for Laurel Public Schools in Laurel Montana. He is the former superintendent of Darby Public Schools and Highwood Public Schools.

During the March 2-3 interviews, the Board will further narrow the field to two or three viable candidates who will return for a second round of interviews later in March, Andra said.

The second round will include an entire day in the school district and meetings with various groups of staff and students, another interview with the board, and a community forum in the evening.

The Board will seek input from stakeholders at every step during the process. Andra said the board hopes to make a final decision by the end of March.

“The Board values the input of the school district staff and community and asks them to please plan to meet with and ask questions of the finalists,” Andra said.

You may watch for details in the coming weeks on the District’s website.