The Edmonds School District Board of Directors will announce their selection and vote to elect an interim superintendent for the 2022-2023 school year at the board’s regular business meeting on Tuesday, April 26.

Superintendent Dr. Gustavo Balderas, who has been with the Edmonds School District since July 2020, announced in March that he is leaving to head up the Beaverton School District in Oregon. His last day in the Edmonds School District will be June 30.

Due to the timeline involved, the school board decided to first search for an interim superintendent to allow more time for selecting a permanent replacement for Balderas. The interim candidate will be hired to fill the position for no more than one year.

President Nancy Katims announced earlier this month that the directors will hire someone from outside of the Edmonds School District to fill the interim role. She noted the board decided to restrict its search for an interim superintendent solely to external candidates because it makes the most sense at this time. Hiring an internal candidate for the interim position could potentially lead to unintended consequences such as then having to conduct another search for an interim employee in order to fill the position they currently occupy, she said.

The board’s top criteria items for consideration its interim superintendent search include the ability to move forward the district’s strategic plan, foster unity, prior experience as a superintendent, skills for increasing general student achievement and graduation rates, and the people skills necessary to retain current staff along with the recruiting capacity to bring additional assets into the Edmonds School District.

Other items on the April 26 agenda include a report on school-based health centers, plus a presentation from Brier Elementary School fifth graders and a separate update on the school’s improvement plan.

There will be a first reading of the revised policy in which the district can no longer withhold grades or transcripts if a student has an outstanding fine or fee. The policy was recently updated in accordance with revisions made by the Washington State School Directors’ Association.

Tuesday night’s meeting will also include a first reading of the district’s revised policy on naming schools, facilities and teams, and the use of school mascots, images or logos. The policy now includes the line “School and team mascots, logos or images will not be of Native American names, symbols or images unless the local tribe has approved the use by appropriate enactment or resolution.”

The school board meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. and it can also be viewed via livestream. In addition, there is an opportunity for public comment. The complete agenda can be viewed here.