Vashon’s interim superintendent of schools, Jo Moccia, is now poised to stay in her role a year longer than expected.

In an email sent Friday to district staff and families, the school board announced that it had decided to suspend its current search for a new superintendent and resume the process in the fall of 2026 — a move that will give Moccia more time to put successful systems and new initiatives in place in the district.

According to the email, the board will vote to extend Moccia’s contract for one year at a special meeting on Dec. 11.

In a phone call, Moccia confirmed her willingness to continue as interim superintendent for one more year — a time span she said will include multiple significant projects and milestones for the district.

These will include the hire of a new director of student services to oversee special education programs after the retirement of its current director, Kathryn Coleman, at the end of the school year, she said.

The district must develop a new 10-year plan for all its facilities, Moccia said, and will also soon migrate to a new cloud-based software platform that manages all its student data, administrative functions and family communications.

In addition to all this, the board also voted last month to approve a ballot measure that will come before voters in a February election — the renewal of its four-year Educational Programs and Operations Levy. This levy, which in recent years has been approved by voters in wide margins, provides 15% to 20% of the district’s annual operating costs for core services, programs and staffing not covered by state funding.

Given all these factors, Moccia said she believes it will be beneficial for her to remain in her post for one more year.

“Continuity is really important,” she said, adding that during her tenure she has also embarked on significant work with the school board to help it build better systems of trust with district leadership staff.

In a phone call, Board Chair Juniper Rogneby defined the board’s decision to extend Moccia’s contract in much the same terms and expressed gratitude for her willingness to lead the district for another year.

“It was a decision we made based on where we are right now — what kind of irons we have in the fire and where we want to go,” Rogneby said. “Jo has a wealth of leadership experience and insights, and based on her work and near-term planning, it feels like [the extension of her contract] offers our district the very best level of stability and opportunity in the next year.”

Rogneby also cited other pressures — including turmoil resulting from rapid shifts at the federal level — as requiring leadership that is “strategic, proactive and visionary” — traits she said had thus far defined Moccia’s tenure on Vashon.

In a written statement on Friday, Christopher Stone, president of Vashon Education Association, which represents teachers and other certificated district staff members, also signaled support for Moccia remaining in her post for another year.

“In the past few months VEA’s leadership has worked with Dr. Moccia on finalizing a collective bargaining agreement and problem-solving issues related to our collective resolve in providing the best education for our students,” Stone wrote. “We have found her to be a quality partner and we look forward to continuing this collaborative relationship.”

Pausing the search

Moccia, who has decades of educational leadership experience, recently retired from a 14-year tenure as the superintendent of South Whidbey School District — a district not unlike Vashon’s in terms of its size, number of schools and demographics.

She began her tenure on Vashon in July after signing a one-year contract to helm the district during the board’s search for the replacement of Superintendent Slade McSheehy, who left Vashon in July to lead the Bremerton School District.

The search, overseen by the executive search firm of Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates (HYA), reached its midpoint last month after the firm presented data to the board it had gleaned from 213 interviews with district families, students and staff members.

According to HYA’s schedule to fill the post, applications for the job were to have closed in early January, with interviews with finalists scheduled for February. A hire would have then been announced later in the spring, giving Moccia time to help onboard the new superintendent before the conclusion of her contract at the end of her 2026 school year.

The board’s timing to pause the search at this juncture, Rogneby said, made sense, given that much of HYA’s work researching the needs of the district will still be valid in the fall of 2026, when the firm can again post its call for applications for the job. She also said that HYA had not, at this point, shared the names of any applicants for the job with the board.

HYA’s contract with the district stipulates a total payment to the firm of approximately $15,000, with half of that sum already paid, said Rogneby. With the search now paused until the fall of 2026, the district will instead pay the remainder of the sum at that time, she said.

Correction: The print edition of the Dec. 11 Beachcomber incorrectly identified the executive search firm assisting the school district as Hazared, Attea & Associates. The correct name of the firm is Hazard, Young, Attea & Assocations. We regret the error.