Reporter for The Canyon Weekly
The North Santiam School Board has selected two finalists for superintendent, with a community forum to meet the candidates set for April 26.
Out of a pool of 18 applicants, the board met during a special session April 9 and selected Lee Loving, principal of Ridgeview High School in Redmond, and Dr. Jose Silva, principal of Kermit R. Booker Elementary School in
Las Vegas, Nevada.
The board also selected Patrick Coen, superintendent of Burlington Community School District in Burlington, Iowa. Coen withdrew his candidacy April 12.
The board is looking to fill the position after current Superintendent Andy Gardner submitted his resignation Feb. 4 to join the Greater Albany Public Schools as superintendent. Gardner began his teaching career with North Santiam School District in 1990 and his last day will be June 30.
The April 26 forum will begin at 6 p.m. at the Stayton High School gym and will feature a question-and-answer format. Participants can also fill out comment cards to tell the board their impressions of the finalists.
The board intends to select a single finalist following the forum, and after contract negotiations hopes to make a firm job offer no later than May 5.
Loving has 20 years of school administration experience, and in 2019 was honored as Oregon Secondary Principal of the Year by Oregon Association of Secondary School Administrators and Coalition of Oregon School Administrators. He holds a master of science degree in educational leadership from Portland State University.
Silva has been principal at Kermit R. Booker since 2019, with prior experience in high school and elementary administration in Nevada. He has a doctorate of education in K-12 leadership from Argosy University, and a master of arts in elementary education from Sierra Nevada College.
Loving and Silva were selected after the board interviewed candidates and took recommendations from a 22-member search advisory committee made of parents, students, district staff and community members. The board said they were grateful to the committee members for adding their perspective to a comprehensive process.
