PORT TOWNSEND — The principal of Blue Heron Middle School has resigned, effective at the end of this school year.
“This is a personal decision,” Diane Lashinsky said Thursday.
“My in-tent is to move back to Seattle, where I used to live, and explore new professional opportunities.”
Lashinsky, 57, made the announcement to school staff members Wednesday afternoon and to parents during a Thursday morning meeting.
She is in her third year as principal at the school, which has about 380 students in fourth-through-eighth grades.
The school district will begin advertising to fill Lashinsky’s position today with the listing to stay open for three weeks until a candidate pool is assembled, according to David Engle, the district superintendent.
Engle said that Lashinsky had said she might make a decision to resign and that he encouraged her to make a quick decision so another principal could be recruited.
“We are doing this at the right time. We are in the mix with everyone else,” Engle said.
“It’s better for us to get out earlier because we are a niche district in terms of what we offer,” he said.
“We are out of the urban orbit, and it can be difficult socially for younger people to settle here.”
Lashinsky’s resignation creates a situation similar to the beginning of the 2012-2013 school year, when both Lashinsky and Grant Street Elementary School Principal Mary Sepler were new to their positions.
Sepler also is resigning at the end of this school year and will be replaced by Lisa Condran, an educator now working in the Mount Vernon School District.
Engle said that candidates who applied for Sepler’s position will probably not be appropriate for the Blue Heron position.
Blue Heron has an unusual grade configuration which requires candidates to have both elementary and middle school experience, Engle said.
Engle said that it’s possible that an internal candidate could emerge, but he or she would need to go through the standard application process and compete against those applying from outside the district.
Engle said it will be easier to assemble a new team now than it was in 2012 as he was also new to the district at that time.
Engle said that Lashinsky “worked very hard” during her time at Blue Heron and instituted several improvements.
“She had a strong commitment to improving the special education program and was really good at master scheduling,” he said.
“She has done a lot of good work for us and wants to move on.”
Lashinsky said her frustrations at Blue Heron were no different than in any other school — a lack of both adequate instructional time and the money needed to support programs.
“Having enough resources is always an issue,” she said.
One accomplishment of her tenure is opening up the school to parents.
“We’ve tried to make parents feel more welcome in the school,” she said.
“A parent can walk into my office or call me on the phone and know that I will listen and follow up.”
Lashinsky said she does not yet know what she will do next.
“It’s hard for me to leave Blue Heron,” Lashinsky said.
“I like it here, it’s a good school and I’d like to continue the work, but I want to explore other opportunities.”
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
