The Evergreen Public Schools board of directors appointed former Chehalis School District superintendent Christine Moloney as its new interim superintendent Tuesday evening.
Moloney led Chehalis — a far smaller district than Evergreen, with about 3,000 students — for four years. Moloney also has several years of experience as a principal, classroom teacher and district administrator in Puyallup and Bethel.
She will be Evergreen’s first female superintendent.
“It’s an honor,” Moloney said. “I’m really excited to work within a large school district to build upon their strategic plan and great things that are already happening.”
In her time at Chehalis, the district saw improvements in standardized test scores across all subjects — particularly in math, where the average student proficiency rate improved about 12 percentage points between 2020 and 2023.
Her biggest priority at Evergreen is building relationships with district staff across all levels — an aspect of her work she said she’s been most proud of in previous jobs.
“When staff don’t feel valued and respected, students can feel it,” she said. “My goal here is to build these relationships with staff. There are some key people I want to reach out to, to have some conversations with.”
Moloney’s appointment is effective immediately, replacing John Boyd, whose last day was June 30. Boyd was originally brought on as Evergreen’s interim superintendent in February 2022 before being hired for the permanent position the following year.
Moloney was one of 20 applicants for the position; finalist interviews finished last week. Board president Rob Perkins said Moloney was a unanimous choice among board members.
“She really did her research. Throughout our process, she rose to the top in every category,” Perkins said. “She was the best choice and I’m happy we were able to choose a woman for a job that’s pretty much been the domain of men. It’s time.”
It’s unclear whether Moloney will pursue the permanent position as Boyd did, but Perkins said she is welcome to apply. The permanent superintendent search will begin in September.
A copy of Moloney’s contract was not immediately available.
Board director Jacqueline Weatherspoon said during board comment that Moloney’s salary is comparable to Boyd’s. Boyd received $343,049 in total compensation in the 2022-23 school year, the most recent data available.
