PORT TOWNSEND — Carol Andreasen, retiring Port Townsend School District superintendent, has two days to complete her packing before her replacement takes over on Friday.
In March, the School Board selected Thomas Opstad, a Lynden School District assistant superintendent, as new leader of Port Townsend schools.
Andreasen, 60, retires after six years of managing a 1,500-student district with two elementary schools and middle and high schools.
“This is it,” she said sitting in a bare office on Tuesday morning.
“Six years is a long time. I am going to miss people here, and I hired a lot of them.”
Ready for ‘short break’
After 38 years in education, Andreasen plans to take a short break, tending the garden at her Port Townsend home, taking her dogs for walks and going on a trip to Canada.
“I wonder if I’m going to go home and react to not having a million things to deal with every day,” she said, sitting at her desk bearing a welcome kit for the incoming superintendent.
At the end of summer she expects to return to education by teaching a Washington State University class for teachers and working as an education consultant.
During her years as the head of the Port Townsend School District, Andreasen oversaw passage of two maintenance and operations levies, as well as one technology levy.
She credits the people that she managed for increasing student achievement, creating better sports fields, and improving school facilities and buses.
“We’ve had a good board and a great staff,” she said.
Opstad arriving Thursday
Meanwhile, Opstad plans to arrive in Port Townsend late Thursday night to begin work the following day.
He said he expects to complete his learning period in about two weeks and then begin making decisions in a district where the main challenge is declining enrollment.
Opstad plans to move to Port Townsend with his wife, Francie.
“We want to look around and figure out where we want to buy a house,” Opstad said Tuesday.