Seven Apply For Prescott’s Top School Job

PRESCOTT - When Prescott School District Su­perintendent Dr. Carolyn Marsh announced in June that she wanted to retire in the hopes of being rehired, she knew she was taking a risk.

After all, there is no guar­antee she'll get her old job back by the time school starts again. Her goal was to resume receiving her pension ben­efits, which she forfeited after taking the superinten­dent's job in Prescott three years ago, then be rehired as superintendent and receive the position's salary as well.

Such "retire-rehire" sce­narios are not uncommon. Washington state law allows them, and they often happen in small school districts that have a tough time recruiting qualified candidates. Dis­tricts are allowed to rehire the retiree if no qualified replace­ment can be found. But these transitions sometimes raise eyebrows, as this one did.

Marsh, for instance, re­mains in the district's resi­dence (albeit as a tenant) and left some of her personal possessions at the superin­tendent's

office. She recently negotiated a new three-year contract, which she'll now have to forego. At least one critic of the process in Prescott, former Prescott teacher Dr. San­dra Carpenter, claims there was such lack of separation between the retiree and the potential rehire that it may amount to a so-called "wink and a nod" arrangement that the state frowns upon. "You are, of course, all aware that the law provides for mandatory separation of the retiree from service for a specified period," Carpen­ter wrote in a letter to the board which she read to its members before they went into executive session last Thursday to discuss the hir­dent. ing transition. "Is that the case with your most recent superintendent? Is continuing to live in a school district house a sepa­ration? Is leaving many if not all of her personal posses­sions in the superintendent's office separation?"

Former Waitsburg Super­intendent Robbie Johnson, who retired from his district in 2004 to make himself available as a rehire to other districts, said a retiree is bet­ter off vacating completely, or "there might be an im­plication that the job is still 'mine.'" Marsh and the board, however, say they have done everything by the book. The board said it will strictly follow the law as it goes forward, hiring an inde­pendent recruiting consultant to help with the selection of the next superintendent and vowing to solicit community and staff input as it did three years ago. That should give Marsh some competition. Board Chair Karen Tonne said the district has received seven viable applications and will go over them care­fully

with the consultant during the next few weeks. If the process has to continue into the new school year, a temporary arrangement for leadership of the district will be found, she said.

In the process, Marsh will be regarded as "any other applicant," Tonne said. "We have no idea if she'll be re­hired. " Marsh said she continues to live in the district resi­dence

because "some rent for the district is better than none." Regarding the per­sonal items that remain at the office, she said "it would be my desire to make the transi­tion as smooth as possible." She has turned in her keys and seems ready to accept whatever decision the board makes. "I would appreciate to be rehired," she said in an inter­view. "I also know it may not go in my direction." Marsh, 65, said she feels she is well qualified to lead the district for at least another year (retirees can only be rehired one year at a time) because of her 40 years in education and her accom­plishments in Prescott. The Walla Walla native received her bachelor of arts in education from Eastern in 1967 and got her first job as a 4th-grade teacher in the Vancouver School District, followed by teaching posi­tions in the nearby Evergreen School District. She got a master's in education from Portland State University in 1974, after which she went to work in the Northshore (Seattle) School District, where she helped open two new schools. She received her Ph.D. in educational leadership from Seattle University in 1996 and became superintendent at the Key Peninsula District in Gig Harbor. She retired in 1998 and took several private-sector positions un­til

she joined the Prescott School District in 2007.

She points to the success­ful reconstruction project, the formation of the Waitsburg-Prescott athletic combine, the creation of Prescott's first public preschool (and Early Childhood Learning Center), adoption of new math and English curriculum, and the recruitment of new energetic young teachers as her contri­butions to the district. "I have complete faith in Carolyn's ability," Tonne said.

But Marsh has her critics who say she hasn't valued the input from the district's teaching staff as much as she should have and has faced some union grievances that could have been avoided.

"I hope we get some­one who has more regard for teachers as profession­als,"

said Chris Petroni, who taught science at Prescott High School for two years and acted as president of the Prescott Education Asso­ciation.

He resigned from his post this summer to pursue a law degree.

Some current teachers who wished not to be identi­fied said that the work envi­ronment under Marsh was tense, while one parent who transferred a child to another district said Prescott has be­come a "less-than-inspiring" district to send a student. Carpenter too hinted at some underlying discontent with Marsh's leadership but stopped short of going into specifics. "I could go on to talk about the many real and perceived problems that stu­dents, community and staff members have suffered in Carolyn Marsh's tenure in the Prescott School District, but I leave that to others," she wrote in her letter. Marsh herself takes these kinds of comments in stride, saying the board expects her to look at the overall needs of the district. "I'm sure I haven't made everybody happy," she said. "But I know in my heart and soul I have made the right decisions."