Evergreen Public Schools is negotiating a resignation agreement with Superintendent John Steach, but the board of directors is staying silent on the reasons for Steach’s sudden imminent departure.
At a special board of directors meeting Monday, school board President Julie Bocanegra announced that the district’s human resources director Jenae Gomes and chief fiscal officer Mike Merlino are working with Steach to write the exit plan. The sudden news was announced by way of a board meeting agenda released Friday afternoon, and no details have emerged in the days since.
“While I understand there’s significant interest in this matter, and in Dr. Steach’s situation, this is a personnel matter, and as such, isn’t appropriate to discuss any further details,” Bocanegra said.
District spokeswoman Gail Spolar also declined to give further comment.
The board voted unanimously to appoint Merlino interim superintendent in the meantime. Bocanegra said district officials hope a decision will be made in time for Tuesday’s regular board meeting. The school board is also tasked that day with appointing a new school board member to replace Todd Yuzuriha, who resigned this month.
Board Vice President Victoria Bradford expressed her confidence in Merlino, saying he’ll be able to “step in and do the work of the district.
“He understands our district,” Bradford said. “He knows our staff and students, and he’s always put the interest of our students and the health of the district first.”
Steach’s base salary is $242,584 for the 2018-2019 school year. His contract allows the board to terminate his employment at any time, but it requires that the board establish sufficient cause for termination. If there is no sufficient cause, the district must pay Steach the equivalent of a year’s salary.
Steach is one of the highest-paid public employees in Clark County. Steve Webb, superintendent of neighboring Vancouver Public Schools, has a base salary of $261,901. Clark County Manager Shawn Henessee’s base salary is $170,000 per year, and Vancouver City Manager Eric Holmes’ is $253,156.
Reasons unknown
It’s unclear what could have led to the sudden announcement of Steach’s resignation after his short tenure with the district. Steach was promoted to the top job in 2017 to replace longtime Superintendent John Deeder.
But it’s been a busy year and a half for Steach, marked by historic teacher strikes, successful school funding measures and, currently, an expected 5 percent budget cut. In a series of emails over recent weeks, Steach announced 20 percent budget cuts within central administrative offices, and Spolar later clarified that means the elimination of 17 positions.
Still, other districts in Clark County have seen similar upheaval. Vancouver Public Schools is currently in the midst of publicly announcing budget cuts, and six local school districts faced days of strikes in August and September.
Steach arrived in the district in 2014 as deputy superintendent. Previously, he was the superintendent of the Canby School District in Canby, Ore. Steach has never been a classroom teacher and was previously an engineer. Steach told The Columbian in 2017 that he thought his experience outside of education would serve him well.
“When I talk about getting outside of the box, a lot of the times I like to throw the box away,” Steach said in June 2017. “If we could build something brand new, what would that be?”
Evergreen Education Association President Bill Beville was optimistic about the leadership change. He noted that interim superintendent Merlino was the district representative the union “actually dealt with” at the bargaining table during last year’s contentious negotiations and teacher strikes.
“We’re looking forward to working with him through the end of the year or until they appoint someone,” Beville said.
