Slade McSheehy is selected to lead Bremerton School District

Published 11:21 am Wednesday, April 2, 2025

Vashon Island School Superintendent Slade McSheehy has been hired as the new superintendent of the Bremerton School District.

The Bremerton school board’s decision came in a unanimous vote around 9 p.m. Tuesday, April 1, after a public forum in Bremerton in which McSheehy appeared along with two other finalists for the position. The motion stipulated that pending contract negotiations, McSheehy will start his new job on July 1.

“Dr. McSheehy’s proven budget and strategic plan implementation experience positioned him as the most prepared to take our district to the next level,” said John Hurley, Bremerton’s school board president, in a statement posted on the district’s website.

Other finalists for the position included Shaun Carey, who has served as the superintendent of Enumclaw School District since 2020, and Rich Staley, the superintendent of Oakville School District, located on the southeastern gateway to Grays Harbor County.

According to reporting by The Kitsap Daily News, McSheehy described himself during the public forum that preceded his appointment as a “lifetime student” and “expressed enthusiasm about applying his passion for equity and student success in a larger district setting.”

In an emailed message to the Vashon community on Wednesday, McSheehy said that after serving seven years as Vashon’s superintendent, and with his youngest son set to graduate high school this year, he looked forward to working in a larger district.

But the decision to depart Vashon was not easy, he said.

“One of the greatest privileges of my 30-year career has been working alongside the incredibly talented and committed team of educators, staff, and administrators across the district,” he said. “… I am grateful to have been a part of this all-star team of educators.”

He said he was particularly proud of the district’s work on “the Vashon Promise, which includes broadening supports for our multilingual learners and their families, fostering deeper connections with the Puyallup Tribe, and making progress to ensure that all students — regardless of background — feel a sense of belonging and opportunity in our schools.”

The school board, he said, will soon share more details about the transition process and next steps for identifying the district’s next superintendent. In the meantime, he said he remains fully committed to supporting Vashon students and staff throughout the remainder of the school year.

Martha Woodard, vice-chair of the Vashon school board, said in an email on Wednesday evening that it was too soon to provide any details from the board as to its timeline for hiring a new superintendent, or comment on any possible interim candidate. Noting that spring break is currently underway in the district, she said the board will meet next week to discuss the matter.

On behalf of the board, she congratulated McSheehy on his new position.

“His tenure at Vashon School District has been one of challenges and growth,” she said. “We wish him well in his new position.”

Bremerton in the news

The Bremerton School District is considerably larger than Vashon’s, encompassing six elementary schools and four secondary schools including a technical skills training center.

It is currently led by an interim superintendent, Donna Dearin-Colosky, who was appointed in late August 2024 after the Bremerton school board terminated the contract of its superintendent at that time, James Crawford.

Crawford’s tenure in the district lasted only one year. According to reporting by the Kitsap Sun and Fox 13 News, the board’s decision to fire him caused controversy in the community and resulted in at least one lawsuit filed by a group of citizens who charged that the district had not properly responded to their requests for public records that pertained to the decision.

The Bremerton School District also made national news when Joe Kennedy, a part-time football coach at Bremerton High School, was placed on administrative leave from the district in 2015 when he refused to stop kneeling in prayer with players and others on the field after football games. According to New York Times reporting, a school official recommended that the coach’s contract not be renewed for the 2016 season, and Kennedy did not reapply for the position.

This personnel matter sparked a lawsuit that eventually reached the Supreme Court, which ruled in 2022 that Kennedy’s First Amendment rights had been violated by the district.

The district reached a $1.7 million settlement agreement with Kennedy — an amount a Washington state appeals court ruled in August 2024 would need to be mostly paid out by the district, after the district unsuccessfully argued that its insurer should pay the settlement, instead.

This article, first published on the morning of April 2, has been updated to include a comment received from Martha Woodard, vice-chair of the Vashon School Board.