Wenatchee School Board Approves Interim Superintendent Contract

The path is set for Dr.Kory Kalahar to become the Wenatchee School District interim Superintendent. 

The school board unanimously approved his two-year contract Tuesday night, which will pay him $220,000 a year, plus travel expenses and other benefits.   

Board member Laura Jaecks says it's important to keep in mind that the contract is flexible.  

"Just going forward, I think it's a good contract," said Jaecks. "It'll be important for the board, whoever they are, during the next session to pay attention to the contract because there are opportunities to take different actions." 

The school board selected Kalahar in February to serve as an interim superintendent, with an option for the contract to be made permanent at any time. 

Board President Maria Iñiguez says the contract process was unusual. 

"It was a little bit of a challenging contract because of the unique situation that this is an interim superintendent position," said Iñiguez. 

Kalahar will receive $600 a month for travel expenses. The district will also take out a $500,000 life insurance policy for Kalahar, with Kalahar to name the beneficiaries from the policy. 

Kalahar will become the district's second superintendent over the course of a year after interim Superintendent Bill Eagle agreed to a one-year contract which began last July. 

Eagle filled the role after Superintendent Paul Gordon accepted a superintendent position outside of Chicago. 

Kalahar has worked for the Wenatchee School District for 24 years and is moving into the superintendent position after working as the Assistant Executive Director of Learning & Teaching, with previous positions as principal and assistant principal. 

He beat out two other finalists for the position. Dr. Nicolas Wade is a recent superintendent in West Columbia, South Carolina and Tavis Peterson is the Assistant Superintendent of the Wapato School District. 

The process to hire a new superintendent began with the hiring of a consultant to assist with the selection process in August of last year.