Mark Hottowe began his first official day as superintendent of Battle Ground Public Schools on Tuesday. The district that he’s taking the reins of is a tamer, calmer animal than it was a year ago.
On June 26, 2013, Battle Ground school board members made public the $401,715 separation agreement they’d signed with then-outgoing superintendent Shonny Bria. Board members kept the deal a secret until Bria was on her way out.
Since then, the district has been led by Duane Rose, interim superintendent, and Lynn Hicks, interim deputy superintendent. Both are retired district administrators with a track record of being straight-talking and transparent.
“Both Duane and Lynn had done a tremendous amount to turn the ship,” said Monty Anderson, school board president.
“Most interims come in and just keep the ship afloat, but these two did much more,” Hottowe said. “They went after issues and problems and worked with rebuilding trust. Duane and Lynn immediately started straightening things out,” Hottowe said.
Rose and Hicks requested an audit. It recommended the district increase its fund balance, which currently is only about 3 percent. Hottowe said the district is working to increase the fund balance.
“You have to have a rainy day fund,” Anderson said. “With only a 3 percent fund balance, that wouldn’t be enough to make payroll. Mark Hottowe understands how important that fund balance is.”
When the news broke that Bria was leaving, Hottowe’s friends told him he should apply because of his skill in bringing people together, he said.
He began paying attention to the district’s news. He and his wife, Marcie, drove the length of the district. Driving through the rural northern part of the district past places named Amboy, Yacolt and Chelatchie Prairie, he began to realize the district’s immensity. Geographically, Battle Ground is the largest district in the county. It serves about 13,000 students.
$176,000 salary
Unlike Bria, Hottowe doesn’t hold a doctoral degree. In the 90-plus degree heat Tuesday, Hottowe wore khakis and a short-sleeved polo shirt, with no tie or suit jacket in sight.
The board’s decision to offer Hottowe the job was unanimous.
“We did some public opinion polls that showed he (Hottowe) was the favorite, which is what the board believed too,” Anderson said. “One of the strengths was character. He has a willingness to listen to what people have to say.”
“I certainly welcome people to visit me, drop by,” Hottowe said. “You can just feel the emotion that runs through this place. There’s something special about Battle Ground. Many people who work for the district came through this district. It feels good here.”
Hottowe will be paid $176,000 annually for the job of leading the third-largest school district in Clark County. That’s a 14 percent increase over Bria’s annual salary of $154,000. But superintendent contracts include other compensation, such as vacation days that can be cashed in.
“When you look at the total compensation package, it’s nearly similar to Shonny’s,” Anderson said. “Shonny’s vacation buyback was more. We wanted people to see the dollar amount, everything up front,” he said.
In preparing to step into the job, Hottowe spent five or six vacation days from the Ocean Beach district working with Hicks and Rose in Battle Ground to learn about the district.
Hottowe, 60, formerly was superintendent at Ocean Beach School District in Long Beach with 975 student. He had held that position since 2011. Hottowe and his wife are longtime Longview residents. His commute to Battle Ground takes about 45 minutes.
Streamlining
In the past year, Hicks worked to restructure classrooms that had too few students and save the district significant money, Hottowe said. A $1.5 million cost-saving measure cut 17 basic education positions through attrition, with retirements and teachers moving to other districts. Some classrooms had only about 15 students.
Continuing the course of streamlining, Hottowe has decided not to fill the deputy superintendent position. Instead of the four assistant superintendents under Bria’s administration, he has two.
He’s putting his immediate focus on teaching and learning, and recently hired Mark Ross as assistant superintendent of teaching and learning. He also created two new positions, directors of instructional leadership in the teaching and learning department. He hired district principals Laurie Sundby and Shelly Whitten to put greater emphasis on supervising, evaluating and training principals.
“The No. 1 cause of school improvement is the principal,” he said. “If the principal is on top of it, student learning increases.”
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Hottowe said board members and district employees are key strengths of the district.
Both Hottowe and Anderson noted increased homebuilding activity in the district. Eventually, the district will need to build new schools to house the increased student enrollment. That will require passing bonds in a school district that historically doesn’t have a good track record in doing so.
“We have to show the community we’re good stewards,” Anderson said. “We have to do our job, too, showing we’re trying to do the right thing.”
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