Fourth time is a charm for Federal Way superintendent | Letter
Published 4:54 pm Thursday, April 23, 2015
At the last school board meeting, I delivered an important message to the school board. In essence, this is what I said to the board regarding the superintendent search:
There is a saying “the third time is a charm.” In your case, it was the fourth time. When you hired Tom Vander Ark (who I didn’t know) and Tom Murphy (who I did know), you hired very good superintendents; unfortunately, their liability was that neither one addressed the district’s biggest problem: the abnormally low high school graduation rates.
When you hired Rob Neu, he did address that concern; however, with all the controversy surrounding his term, many were disappointed with your choice and his performance. But, I am glad to say, this time when you hired Dr. Tammy Campbell, you got it right because — to use a baseball term — you hit a home run (literally). I was also glad that the decision was unanimous and you were on the same page as I was.
I went to the first public forum and I came back for the second one as well because I was so impressed with this individual that I wanted to hear her again. I believe it would be safe to say that both Dr. Campbell and Sally McLean are extremely talented and have impressive track records; however, in the end, Dr. Campbell had a slight edge.
Not only does she have a doctorate but she put it to good use. She did an outstanding job laying out her qualifications and why she applied for the job. The one thing that shocked me was the fact that she wasn’t already a superintendent given her qualifications. The other thing that impressed me was the clear and concise answers she gave to the very tough questions the public posed. Finally, there were two things she said that, for me, literally sealed the deal.
First, she said she “was a perfect match for this job” and I couldn’t agree more. Second she said she was “here for the long haul,” which is the commitment everyone was looking for.
The superintendent search was a long and arduous process and I only disagreed with one decision you made: In the end, I thought there should have been only two (not three) candidates because Dr. Campbell and McLean are “in a league by themselves.”
This process was one of your biggest challenges and succinctly put, you did an outstanding job and should be congratulated. Thanks to you, our school district has a very bright future ahead.
Gary Robertson, Federal Way
