This story was originally published by The Oregonian/OregonLive and is reprinted with permission.
A former Salem-Keizer superintendent who has spent the last eight years leading an educational nonprofit will lead Portland Public Schools until at least June, as board members in the state’s largest district search for a new permanent superintendent.
Sandy Husk, who led Salem-Keizer Public Schools from 2006 to 2014, will start the new role Feb. 12, which would give her just four days of overlap with current Superintendent Guadalupe Guerrero, whose last day at the district is Feb. 16.
Members of the Portland Public Schools board voted unanimously to appoint her to the role at specially called meeting Thursday night.
Husk matched the key criteria that the district was seeking in an interim superintendent, said board member Julia Brim-Edwards. She had superintendent experience in a sizable Oregon district, is not a candidate for the permanent position and has focused on educational equity throughout her career, Brim-Edwards said.
During Husk’s time in Salem — a district that is significantly more diverse and has many more families living below the federal poverty line than Portland – the dropout rate fell from 7.2% to 2.6%, according to the Salem Statesman Journal, and voters agreed to pass what was then the largest school construction bond in the state. She was also part of a small group of large district superintendents from around Oregon who were influential in shaping statewide education policy, including the move to full-day kindergarten. She was also a finalist to lead the state Department of Education in 2012, a job that ultimately went to then-Tigard-Tualatin superintendent Rob Saxton.
Taking on Portland Public Schools, and the deep fractures from the first educators’ strike in district history, will be challenging. The interim superintendent will be charged with settling contracts with labor unions that represent both school professionals, including educational aides, paraeducators and library assistants, and with the district’s custodians and nutrition service workers.
This spring, district leaders must also decide whether to ask voters to approve a renewal of a five-year local option levy, which pays for about 800 educators. The levy has passed handily in the past, but recent public opinion polls have charted rising voter skepticism about taxation levels.
Most immediately, the interim superintendent will have to take charge of preparing a budget for the 2024-2025 school year that officials have said will require at least $40 million in cuts over the next 18 months, in order to afford the provisions agreed to during the protracted contract negotiations with educators.
If Husk’s appointment is confirmed as expected, she would make an annual salary of $330,000, or slightly less than $341,000 Guerrero was making, Brim-Edwards said.
In a statement, Husk said she sees the role of interim superintendent as providing “continuity and support for policies, programs and a budget that strengthen learning for all students in Portland Public Schools. I believe the central office exists to support what goes on in every school.”
Guerrero announced his departure just two weeks after the teacher’s strike ended in November. He told The Oregonian/OregonLive that he was proud of his work in Portland, including overseeing updates to districtwide curriculum, opening new buildings and overhauling how reading is taught in early elementary schools.
But he also acknowledged not being able to move the needle on reading and math mastery for many students of color, especially Black and Native students.
School board members have said they plan to launch a national search for a new permanent superintendent and hope to have that candidate in place by June.
Husk, 67, lives with her husband in Sisters in central Oregon, but will move to Portland for the duration of her tenure.
— Julia Silverman, @jrlsilverman, [email protected]
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