Jefferson County, Ore. – Jefferson County School District has narrowed its national superintendent search down to two finalists: a principal in the district and an executive director in the Hillsboro School District.
The Bulletin reports the school board contracted with the Oregon School Boards Association for guidance on its superintendent search, following Superintendent Rick Molitor’s announcement that he would resign on June 30.
The district received 19 applicants and interviewed seven. Now, the district has chosen two finalists: Ted Zehr, executive director of the Hillsboro School District, and Ken Parshall, principal of Warm Springs K-8 Academy in the Jefferson County School District. The board will likely decide by early April.
Ted Zehr, 55, oversees secondary schools in the Hillsboro district, which includes four middle schools, four high schools, an alternative school and the district’s online school.
Zehr, 55, has spent 24 of his 31 years working in education with Hillsboro.
While Zehr has served as an executive director for two years, his past positions in education have run the spectrum: He’s been a high school math and science teacher, an assistant principal and a principal.
Ken Parshall, 53, has worked in education for 31 years. He’s in his second school year as principal of Warm Springs K-8 Academy, a school that opened three years ago. He took over when the school’s principal retired after its first year.
His work in Warm Springs isn’t his first venture into Central Oregon. Parshall was once principal of Crook County High School for three years, around 2000-2003.
On April 3 and 4, the two candidates will spend time in the district and community getting a tour from board members. One more community forum will take place before the board completes the final interviews. The time and location of the community forum are still undecided.
