Update: In a vote that took place on the evening of April 1, Slade McSheehy was unanimously selected by the Bremerton School to serve as the district’s new superintendent, with a start date of July 1, pending successful contract negotiations. Read story here: vashonbeachcomber.com/news/slade-mcsheehy-is-selected-to-lead-bremerton-school-district.
Vashon Island School Superintendent Slade McSheehy was named last week as one of three finalists in a search for a new superintendent of the Bremerton School District.
The news, reported by the Kitsap Sun on March 28, is also detailed on the Bremerton School District website, at tinyurl.com/38rwb88r.
According to the district, members of Bremerton’s five-member school board will vote to name their selection as superintendent immediately after a community forum on Tuesday, April 1 (after deadline for the print edition of The Beachcomber) attended by McSheehy and two other finalists for the position.
The finalists include Shaun Carey, who has served as the superintendent of Enumclaw School District since 2020, and Rich Staley, currently the superintendent of Oakville School District, located on the southeastern gateway to Grays Harbor County.
This isn’t the first time Carey and McSheehy have been been considered for the same post: in 2018, both Carey and McSheehy, along with one other another candidate, Eric Hong, were named as finalists for the job of superintendent of Vashon’s school district, in a search that ensued after the retirement of former Vashon superintendent Michael Soltman.
At the time, Carey served as the assistant superintendent at the Franklin Pierce School District just south of Tacoma, and McSheehy was the assistant superintendent at the Hockinson School District in Brush Prairie, Washington, in Clark County.
As the last step in Vashon’s hiring process, each of the three final candidates participated in community meetings on the island. In the end, Carey withdrew his name from consideration and the Vashon school board announced its hire of McSheehy in late March of 2018.
McSheehy job search
Asked to comment about his candidacy for the position in Bremerton, McSheehy said in an email on Sunday that he was honored to be considered as a finalist for the job.
“After seven years with the Vashon School District and my youngest son graduating this year, this felt like the right time to explore future opportunities,” he wrote. “At the same time, I remain deeply committed to supporting our students, staff and families in the important work we are doing together on Vashon.”
Juniper Rogneby, Vashon’s school board chairperson, echoed McSheehy’s comment in an email, after saying that McSheehy had alerted the board to his upcoming finalist interview in Bremerton.
“It stands to reason that after seven years of service to the Vashon Island School District, his career would lead him to consider a bigger district as an opportunity to grow,” Rogneby wrote. “While he may be exploring other opportunities at this time, Dr. McSheehy is fully committed to the success of this district’s teachers, staff, and students.
In the event that McSheehy accepts a role in another district, the board will consider its succession strategy, Rogneby added.
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, and 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.
Visit vashonbeachcomber.com for updates to this story.
