CHIMACUM — Chimacum School District board members have hired career educator and school administrator Craig Downs as the district’s next superintendent.
Downs will succeed Chimacum district Superintendent Mike Blair, who is retiring June 30 after five years of service.
Downs accepted the board’s offer late Thursday night by phone after the five-member elected panel arose from executive session at Nemo’s Restaurant at the Inn at Port Hadlock.
The board reconvened in open session shortly after 9 p.m. and voted unanimously to offer the job to Downs — one of three finalists who were extensively interviewed last week.
“I am excited to dive in and start working for the school district and make a difference,” said Downs, 50, the assistant superintendent of southwest Washington’s Woodland School District, on Friday.
Downs agreed to start work July 1 under a contract the board could finalize this week. It plans to formally approve the contract its March 24 meeting.
No information was available on his proposed salary. On his application, Downs listed his Woodland district salary at $104,000.
Saying he plans to stay with the district until he retires at 62, Downs said, “The first thing that I would do is get to understand the district and the history of the district, and try to build on the positive things that have gone on.
Woodland School District has an enrollment of about 2,200. The Chimacum district has 1,076 students.
District well-run
Saying the quality of the district attracted his attention, Downs said: “This is the kind of district that I want to work in.
“It has good history of being financially prudent and good community support. The district is well-run and in good fiscal shape.”
The Chimacum district operates with an $11.5 million annual budget compared to Woodland’s $20 million annual budget.
School board members were excited about hiring Downs, saying he was strong on community outreach, participation and leadership, as well as administration.
“Craig Downs brings good experience and is going to be a great fit with what we consider a strong administrator team,” said school board member Kevin Miller, who six years ago was also involved in hiring Blair.
The hiring process took into consideration more than 100 written comments from administrators, teachers and district residents, Miller said, adding that it included three community meetings to meet the public.
Downs was one of 24 applicants originally considered.
“The candidates had specific skill strengths, but some were of them duplicated by staff,” Miller said, adding that Downs was “a strong advocate for children, a strong advocate for learning and a community leader.”
Miller said he was confident the transition between Blair and Downs would be a smooth one.
Family ties
Downs has local family ties to East Jefferson County.
His wife, Deborah, is a 1979 Chimacum High School graduate and he has relatives living in the area, including his wife’s mother in Port Townsend and other relatives in Port Townsend and on Marrowstone Island.
His parents are retired in Port Ludlow.
At one point, Downs said he and his wife bought retirement property in Port Ludlow but later sold it.
The Downs have four children: Nathan, a Northwest University student in Kirkland; Spencer, a freshman at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma; and two children who will be attending Chimacum schools — eighth-grade son, Riley, and a sixth-grade daughter, Florence.
Downs said he knew Blair, after the two took certification exams together.
He has been involved as a coach in youth sports with his children and said he would transfer his Rotary membership after he moves to the area.
Downs has been assistant superintendent in Woodland, a district near Interstate 5 and the Columbia River north of Vancouver, Wash., since July 2005.
There, he oversees curriculum and instruction for kindergarten to 12th-grade students, according to his resume.
He guided the adoptions of kindergarten through sixth-grade and high school math and the third- to sixth-grade language arts.
He directed staff development for district-wide assessment strategies and provided staff trainings for teachers.
He supervised and evaluated district principals, worked closely with school board members on levy and bond matter and chaired a citizens steering committee that made recommendations to the board on overcrowding, grade configuration and new high school facilities issues.
He assisted the personnel department and other administrators with employee-related issues.
He was director of Human Resources for the Kelso School District from November 2004 to June 2005 and principal at Barnes Elementary School in Kelso from July 1996 to June 2005.
Before that, he served as assistant principal at Wallace Elementary School in Kelso from July 1994 to June 1996, and was assistant principal at Huntington Junior High School in Kelso from July 1990 to June 1994.
He started out as a teacher at Alderwood Middle School in Edmonds, working there from July 1985 to June 1990.
He said he will start by focusing on building on a “continuous improvement model” for student performance, and will work with the board, administrators and staff to determine key areas of focus for improving academics.
The other two finalists for the position were Mike Johnson, director of teaching and learning, special programs and human resources at South Whidbey School District, and Tom Churchill, Hood Canal School District superintendent.
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Port Townsend-Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.