(Photos above: Consuelo Yvonne Curtis, Robert Hess, Shay Mikalson and Sloan Presidio)
Community invited to forums to meet the four finalists during the first week of March.
The 12-member Bend-La Pine Schools superintendent search committee has announced the names of the finalists who will vie for the district’s top leadership position.
After two days of extensive interviews, the committee narrowed the field to the following four finalists, in alphabetical order:
Dr. Consuelo Yvonne Curtis of Forest Grove School District in Forest Grove, Oregon; Dr. Robert Hess of Lebanon Community School District in Lebanon, Oregon; Shay Mikalson of Bend-La Pine Schools in Bend; and Dr. Sloan Presidio of Fairfax County Public Schools in Fairfax, Virginia.
The community will have an opportunity to meet each candidate individually during community forums in Bend and La Pine. The public forums are scheduled for:
Robert Hess
Mon., March 2 — Rosland Elementary School, La Pine; 4:30 – 6 p.m.
Tues., March 3 — Education Center, Bend; 4 – 6 p.m.
Yvonne Curtis
Tues., March 3 — Rosland Elementary School, La Pine; 4:30 – 6 p.m.
Weds., March 4 — Education Center, Bend; 4 – 6 p.m.
Shay Mikalson
Weds., March 4 — Rosland Elementary School, La Pine; 4:30 – 6 p.m.
Thurs., March 5 — Education Center, Bend; 4 – 6 p.m.
Sloan Presidio
Thurs., March 5 — Rosland Elementary School, La Pine; 4:30 – 6 p.m.
Fri., March 6 — Education Center, Bend; 4 – 6 p.m.
Rosland Elementary School is located at 52350 Yaeger Way, in La Pine. The Education Center is located at 520 NW Wall Street, Bend. The forums will be held in the Board Room.
ABOUT THE FINALISTS
Curtis is the current Superintendent of Forest Grove School District in northwest Oregon, a position she has held since 2009. She has 18 years of administrative experience. Previously she served as the Director for Student Achievement for the Eugene School District, the principal at Terrebonne Elementary School in the Redmond School District and assistant principal at Jefferson County Middle School. She also has 15 years of teaching experience, including eight years at Bear Creek Elementary School in Bend.
Hess is the current Superintendent of Lebanon Community School District in western Oregon, a position he has held since 2009. He has 18 years of experience as an administrator, both at the building and district level, including work as a Student Achievement Leader for Springfield Public Schools and a principal at three schools in Lebanon. He also served as a teacher for 10 years. Hess has written books about education reform and leadership and founded Breakthrough Schools, a network dedicated to helping schools improve results.
Mikalson is the current Assistant Superintendent of Secondary Programs for Bend-La Pine Schools. He has worked in the district since 2012, when he was hired as the Executive Director of Instruction Technology and Curriculum. Prior to that, Mikalson served as the Superintendent for the Redmond School District. He also worked as a building principal at several schools, including International School of the Cascades and Obsidian Middle School in Redmond. He has also served as a math teacher, coach and adjunct professor.
Presidio is the current Assistant Superintendent of Instructional Services for Fairfax County Public Schools in Fairfax, Virginia. Prior to that, he served as Director of Educational Programs for Tigard-Tualatin School District. His background includes time as an attorney, legislative counsel in Oregon, principal and classroom teacher. He served as principal at Hillsboro High School and at Eugene Alternative Education Program.
Hundreds of community members participated in community forums and provided suggestions to help create the profile used to identify potential Bend-La Pine Schools superintendent candidates.
The superintendent recruiting and consulting firm McPherson & Jacobson reviewed 45 applications, and using the community profile, reduced that number to 12. After preliminary screening, the number of candidates was narrowed to seven semi-finalists who were interviewed by the search committee in Bend on February 21 and 23. The committee narrowed the field to four finalists. Each was contacted today and extended an invitation to meet the community, school staff, and the Board of Directors next week.
The new superintendent will begin July 1, 2015. The new superintendent will succeed Ron Wilkinson, who will retire on June 30, 2015. Wilkinson has served as Superintendent of Bend-La Pine Schools, the state’s sixth largest school district, since July 2008 and has been with the district since 1998.
