It wasn’t a “vote,” stressed Seattle School Board president Gina Topp, but she and her colleagues agreed today that they had reached a “consensus around a preferred candidate,” who’ll be announced and identified on November 5. Topp pronounced herself “excited and hopeful” In their just-concluded meeting, which began with a half-hour-plus executive session, board members briefly discussed their preferences – still identified by number only, with candidates 7 and 8 as the two finalists they’ve interviewed behind closed doors and #7 the consensus favorite.
Board director Joe Mizrahi said candidate 7 is “blunt” and said that would be “refreshing.” Director Sarah Clark said she was impressed by the many leadership positions that candidate 7 has held. Like Topp, director Brandon Hersey declared himself “excited” as well as “energized” by the prospect this person will be running SPS. Director Liza Rankin said, “All of the candidates we interviewed were 100 percent focused on students, which should be a given, but isn’t,” and she said both candidates are “phenomenal” but that #7 seems to be the one that fits “this moment in time.” Board vice president Shawn Briggs said both finalists gave her hope “that real change might be possible for this district.” Student board director Sabi Yoon, referring to the preferred candidate as “he,” called #7 “a doer.” In a final round of remarks, Topp added that she saw #7 as “bold and innovative.” Then, last to comment, was director Michelle Sarju, calling the finalists “incredible” and describing herself as “eggshell optimistic” while warning that the board would have to provide “authentic support” for the new superintendent and offered a critique of how that hadn’t been happening over years of a “revolving door” in the superintendent’s office.
Concluding the meeting, Topp declared they’ll be inviting candidate #7 to the November 5 meeting and voting on (him?) then, a vote that would authorize contract negotiations.
