The Camas school board has announced its top four candidates to succeed former superintendent Jeff Snell.
Snell left the district in July 2021 after a decade of leadership to become superintendent of Vancouver Public Schools.
The district’s director of elementary education, Doug Hood, is acting as interim superintendent for the 2021-22 school year.
The board hopes to have a new superintendent start on July 1, 2022.
Board members met Nov. 16 with consultants from McPherson & Jacobson to review 17 applicants and select the top four choices. They are:
- Charlene Williams, who has served as the Camas School District’s assistant superintendent since 2016.
- John Anzalone, an assistant superintendent of education services for the 320,000-student Clark County School District in Las Vegas.
- Heidi Harris, an assistant superintendent of student learning at the 17,065-student Auburn School District.
- Michelle Kuss-Cybula, superintendent of the 849-student Cle Elum-Roslyn School District.
The candidates will interview with the school board and meet district stakeholders — including teachers, students, parents and community members — on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1.
The school board will present the four candidates to the general public via recorded videos by 6:30 p.m. Dec. 1, and will take feedback from the public and stakeholders before making a final decision. School board members have said they hope to select the district’s new superintendent by Dec. 13.
The school board, along with McPherson & Jacobson, has gathered public input throughout the process — hosting in-person “listening posts” in September; opening an online Thought Exchange that drew nearly 400 participants in October; and meeting with 10 different stakeholder groups, including Camas students, staff, teachers and interested members of the community.
Community members, as well as staff and students, listed qualities they hoped to see in the district’s next superintendent, including being a good listener, working well with staff, helping students develop critical thinking skills and being a transparent, effective communicator who would be engaged with the community and dedicated to seeing and serving each student.
