Superintendent Schottle a finalist for Oregon job
Kalispell Public Schools’ top administrator is a finalist for a superintendent position in Eugene, Ore.
Darlene Schottle, who is in her eighth year as superintendent of the Kalispell School District, is one of three finalists for the job in Eugene. If chosen, she would replace George Russell, who has been Eugene’s superintendent since 1998, according to the Eugene Register Guard newspaper.
Schottle said she found out about the job opening when a consultant and search firm contacted her.
“I was not seeking a new position,” Schottle said. “It was something that the consultant and search firm called and said, ‘Do you have an interest?’”
After a little investigation, Schottle discovered she did have an interest in applying. She was intrigued by the chance to work on issues the Eugene School District had identified as important, including increasing student achievement.
“That’s the number one issue they’re working with right now,” she said.
Student achievement has been one of Schottle’s focuses during her tenure in Kalispell. It was also a focus in Reno, Nev., where she worked as superintendent before moving to Montana.
In Reno, Schottle worked with at-risk and minority students, an experience she said was attractive to the Eugene district’s search firm. Eugene wants to focus on closing the achievement gap between minority students and their peers, she said.
Schottle said the search firm also was attracted to the way she prefers to work in a group.
“I have some personality traits, like liking to collaborate and building team decisions that come as jointly created by the entire administration team rather than a top-down process,” she said.
Like Kalispell Public Schools, the Eugene School District is facing a budget shortfall in 2011-12 — but the situation is much more dire in Eugene, Schottle said. The district needs to cut $24 million from its budget and is considering closing four elementary schools.
Schottle said she sees the situation as a chance for innovation rather than as a problem.
“It’s an opportunity to reshape and rework a culture, to ask, how are we going to do school? Do we need to do a reorganization of the high schools and the elementaries?” she said.
“They’re looking at reconstituting options they have within the school district. That’s something I find interesting. I’m excited to be part of that, too.”
In addition to the chance for a new professional challenge, Schottle has a personal attraction to the job. She has children in Medford and Salem.
Schottle already has been through two interviews, one over the telephone and one in person. She will participate in a community forum in Eugene on March 8. Eugene school board members will visit her in Kalispell next week.
The other two finalists are Sheldon Berman, superintendent of Jefferson County Public Schools in Louisville, Ky., and Michael Munoz, chief academic officer with Des Moines Public Schools in Des Moines, Iowa.
According the district’s website, the Eugene school board hopes to name a new superintendent before spring break. Schottle said she expects to hear by mid-March whether she has been chosen.
This is the second time in three years that Schottle has been named a finalist for a new superintendent job. In 2008 she was one of two candidates for a superintendent position in Spokane. Schottle withdrew her name from consideration before the Spokane school board could make a decision.
She said she will be content regardless of what happens with the Eugene position.
“This still remains a win-win for me,” she said. “I am very comfortable here and I care a great deal about the [Kalispell] school district. If it is not a right fit at the right time for Eugene, I am pleased to have a contract that is still viable in this community.”
Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com.