PORT ANGELES — The School Board is expected to select Port Angeles’ next superintendent of schools tonight following two days of public forums with the candidates and two more of background-checking.
The regular board meeting where the vote is expected will begin at 7 p.m. at Lincoln High School, 924 W. Ninth St.
The School Board delayed an expected decision Tuesday night after meeting in executive session for more than an hour to discuss the qualifications of the two announced finalists — Rick Thompson of Friday Harbor and Marc Jackson of Yermo, Calif.
The directors decided to spend two days to complete checking references and other “due diligence” processes before making a decision, said School Board President Steve Baxter.
An executive session will be added to the end of tonight’s board meeting agenda to review the results of the research, Baxter said.
At the end of the executive session, the board will resume the open meeting and may make a selection at that time, he said.
As many as 60 people attended four public forums to meet the two candidates, who visited separately on Monday and Tuesday.
Thompson, who visited Monday, has been superintendent of the San Juan Island School District, with district offices in Friday Harbor, since 2010.
Before then, he was superintendent and curriculum director, separate positions, in the Lynden School District, and was a middle school principal in the Cle Elum-Roslyn School District, all in this state.
He holds a Master of Educational Administration and bachelor’s degrees in English and social studies from Western Washington University.
San Juan Island School District enrolls about 850 students in one high school, one middle school, two elementary schools and a K-12 school.
Jackson is superintendent of Silver Valley Unified School District, with district offices located in the Mojave Desert town of Yermo, Calif., near Barstow and north of San Bernardino.
He served as assistant superintendent of schools and personnel in the Oxnard, Calif., School District and has been principal at two high schools and a middle school in California.
Jackson, who during his Tuesday visit said he has a second home in west Port Angeles and family ties in the area, holds a doctorate in educational leadership from the University of La Verne in California, a Master in Education from California State University, Fullerton, and a bachelor’s degree in history from La Verne College.
Silver Valley is home to Fort Irwin, a U.S. Army training base, and children of military members assigned to the base attend the district’s schools.
It has an enrollment of about 3,000 students, including a high school, an alternative school, a middle school and four elementary/intermediate schools.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.