Seattle School Board to pick next superintendent in October

The Seattle School Board is now slated to pick the district's next superintendent by the end of October, according to a new timeline presented to the board on Wednesday.

The timeline calls for the board to pick the district's next permanent leader either Oct. 15 or 22. Other key dates include:

• Aug. 26: School board receives report on the community’s desired leadership profile for the next superintendent and a report on other themes from community engagement efforts.
• Sept. 1-15: Share those reports with the community.
• Sept. 15: Candidate application deadline.
• Oct. 9-10: The board interviews final candidates.

It is also now likely that the board will keep Fred Podesta on as interim superintendent, as the search for a permanent leader stretches into the upcoming school year.

On a 6-0 vote Wednesday, the board gave President Gina Topp and Vice President Evan Briggs the green light to negotiate a contract with Podesta to continue in the position until the district’s next leader is appointed or until June 30, 2026 — whichever comes first. (Board member Brandon Hersey was absent.)

Podesta, who has served as the district’s chief operations officer for more than five years, was only expected to serve as acting superintendent through Sept. 3 — the first day of the new school year, and what was supposed to be outgoing Superintendent Brent Jones’ last day at the district.

Jones announced in March that he was leaving the district's top job. He has been on medical leave since May and will remain on leave for the remainder of his tenure.

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Sept. 3 was also the date by which the school board had initially hoped to have the next superintendent in place. But the board decided earlier this month to extend the search to allow the community more time to weigh in on what they want in the district’s next leader.

The board says keeping Podesta at the helm of the district “supports a smooth transition and minimizes disruption to students, staff, and families while the Board completes the Superintendent search.”

Ahead of the vote to move forward with contract negotiations, board member Liza Rankin said the board should also discuss and set expectations for Podesta while he serves as interim superintendent, especially as the district continues to grapple with an ongoing budget crisis and other issues.

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“It’s not like things are going super swimmingly, and he can just sort of be a caretaker until somebody new steps in,” she said. “We need to authorize and allow Mr. Podesta to make some big changes … or we’re just going to continue on and our kids can’t afford it and I can’t stomach it.”

Rankin said giving Podesta the powers to run the district would also help the next superintendent be in a position to hit the ground running. She compared the situation to getting a house ready to sell.

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“You want to paint the shutters, you maybe want to replace the porch, get some cute flowers and stuff,” Rankin said. “But if you don’t make sure that your plumbing doesn’t leak and your electric is up to code, it’s going to be hard. It’s going to sit on the market for a long time.”

“We need to do some plumbing and wiring checks and maybe looking at the foundation — and those are things that can and should happen now,” she continued. “We shouldn’t say, ‘Well, we’ll just wait for the next superintendent,’ because we’ve, to be quite frank, squandered a lot of time over the last couple of years on, ‘Will they or won’t they do these things?’ and we haven’t gotten very realistic about problems that have to be solved.”

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In the meantime, the public still has opportunities this summer to weigh in on the superintendent search. The district has an online survey that remains open until Aug. 4. The School Board is hosting a community engagement session that starts at 6 p.m. Thursday, July 31, at James Baldwin Elementary School in Northgate.