MLSD names two superintendent finalists

MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake School District announced late Wednesday its two finalists to fill the currently vacant superintendent position.

According to an MLSD press release, the two finalists are Monty Sabin, the current assistant superintendent of operations at the North Thurston Public Schools in Lacey, and Jeffrey Hardesty, the current superintendent of the Oroville School District.

Sabin, who has 25 years of experience as an educator and administrator, has served in the North Thurston Schools since 2015 and was previously superintendent of the Kittitas School District, according to the MLSD. According to its website, North Thurston is a district of 14,000 students with 13 elementary schools, four middle schools, three comprehensive high schools and three “choice schools.”

According to the MLSD press release, Hardesty has roughly 25 years of experience as a teacher and administrator — including six years as a teacher and principal in Moses Lake — and has served as the Oroville superintendent since 2016. According to data available at the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction website, the Oroville School District, located just south of the Canadian border in Okanogan County, has 533 students enrolled in a single elementary school and one combined junior high and high school.

The MLSD will host a pair of community forums to introduce the superintendent candidates to the community on March 15 and 16 beginning at 7 p.m. in the school board’s meeting room at 940 E. Yonezawa Boulevard.

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached at cfeatherstone@columbiabasinherald.com