Woodland Park School District has shifted its focus from hiring a permanent superintendent to hiring an interim to finish out the 2022-23 school year.

Currently Tina Cassens and Del Garrick are splitting the superindendent duties, but their “regular” jobs as Chief Operations Officer and Chief of Staff, respectively, are of too much importance for them to keep on with this temporary co-assignment for long.

With the departure of Mathew Neal over the summer, the district lost a visionary who served in the role during a year plagued by a pandemic challenges and school board discord. Neal is still lending his talents to WPSD, as a consultant, as the search for his replacement continues.

Prior to Neal’s hiring the district was for many months reeling from the “joint separation agreement” with former superintendent Steve Woolf, who worked hard to elevate the district but left under unfortunate personal circumstances.

Both Garrick and Cassens have shared school-head duties in the past, including after Woolf and former superintendents Jed Bowman left the role. And they do an incredible service to the district. It’s just a shame that they’ve had to do so so often in recent years.

School board president David Rusterholtz said at the board’s Nov. 9 meeting, “We have a precedent of getting rid of superintendents. I’d like to change that.”

Last month the board appointed Board Vice President David Illingworth and Director Cassie Kimbrell to a subcommittee to explore the next steps in searching for a superintendent.

Switching to an interim search changes the candidate pool, Cassens said at the time.

It also delays the prospect of finding the best candidate for the permanent job.

The requests for interim superintendent applications went online Nov. 10, with a deadline of Nov. 29. After applications are vetted, finalists are expected to be named at the board’s Dec. 7 meeting.

The plan is to have an interim superintendent in place before the end of the year to carry the district through the end of the school year.

Rusterholtz said the district needs to find a “change agent for this role,” while Cassens reminded the board that it will be challenging to find someone outside of the “traditional” superintendent hiring season, which begins in December.

It’s not impossible, but certainly it’s a big challenge for a district that has weathered so much change in recent months and years.

Despite a lot of turmoil over the past year, since the majority of the board changed, this board has accomplished a lot.

It would be prudent for the district that has a “precedent of getting rid of superintendents” to focus on becoming the opposite in what is a very difficult hiring climate.

WPSD needs a superintendent who can work with this board for the long-term and move the district forward.

It’s a big ask.

Courier Editor Michelle Karas has called the Pikes Peak region home since 2015. Contact her at michelle.karas@pikespeaknewspapers.com.

Michelle Karas