Cd'A scores with interim super hire

Coeur d’Alene School District took a big, bold and very temporary step in the right direction by hiring Dr. Stanley Olson.

Olson is assuming the title of interim superintendent, meaning he’s going to lead the county’s largest school district for one year while a “permanent” superintendent is found and hired. Olson agreed to the stipulation that he will not be eligible to seek the permanent job.

This is not meant to discredit any of the other school districts in our region, but being by far the biggest, District 271 is expected to lead. It certainly has been willing to break new ground and take on tough assignments: committees appointed to review books have earned brutal criticism and praise for courage; school board races in recent years have often been contentious because of the disparate educational and political perspectives of candidates and their backers; Coeur d’Alene was alone in investing in the International Baccalaureate and Primary Years Programme, which ultimately were dropped but showed the district’s willingness to aim higher despite intense opposition.

And so it seems natural that Coeur d’Alene would create a new model and reach out to hire one of the most respected names in Idaho public education to take charge while a national search begins for a long-term leader. When you talk to current and past education officials around the state, and we did, Olson is regarded as one of the very best. When he retired seven years ago, Olson stepped away from a public school empire he’d helped build. Boise School District, with 25,000 students, 3,900 staff and a $200 million budget, had become one of the top performing districts in the nation.

During a career spanning more than four decades, Olson worked in an impressive cross-section of educational endeavors: classroom teacher, coach, adjunct professor, superintendent, facilitator in the fields of educational leadership and school community relations, and more. It’s those facilitator roles we find most intriguing.

In the midst of budget negotiations with the teachers union, some might take issue with Olson’s $133,000 salary, plus benefits. For a top-level administrator with his credentials, we think that’s a bargain. And we further believe that with his reputation as a consensus builder, many of today’s critics will become tomorrow’s supporters.

Because of a strong school board and no shortage of excellent educators, Coeur d’Alene School District isn’t a disaster area. However, one gets the sense that it isn’t meeting its potential, either. Perhaps that’s why Olson’s contract gives him, with school board approval, the “freedom to organize, reorganize and arrange the administrative and supervisory staff… The responsibility for selection, placement and transfer of personnel shall be vested in the Superintendent subject to approval by the Board.”

That doesn’t sound like Olson was hired as a 12-month placeholder. In fact, with a short-term contract, he can make tough decisions without fear of reprisal or erosion of support years from now.

Bottom line: Dr. Stan Olson was hired to set the bar high for whomever takes over for the longer term. Let’s see how high that bar can go.