Petersburg’s school district will be bringing three finalists for the job of superintendent to town. Two school administrators from Alaska are on the “short list” along with a deputy superintendent from Georgia.

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18 people applied for the Petersburg superintendent job and a selection team has chosen three applicants to town for in-person interviews.

Lisa Stroh is superintendent in Valdez and is part-way through her first year of a two-year contract with that district. She writes that “the school board and I have very different perceptions of their role as it comes to governing a school district. Therefore I feel it is best for me to move on.” Before taking the job in Valdez, Stroh superintendent in Blaine County, Montana for four years. She’s also been a principal in Kodiak and the Kenai peninsula from 1994-2000. Stroh has owned a real estate appraisal business and a farm in Montana as well.

Another finalist is Jay Thomas. He’s been assistant superintendent at the Bering Strait school district in Unalakleet since last July. Thomas also was a K-12 principal in Unalakleet and Teller and worked as a teacher in Akutan and St Mary’s. He served in the US Air Force and has been a wilderness survival instructor. Thomas is also one of two finalists for the superintendent’s job in Wrangell.

A third candidate for the Petersburg job is Virginia Jewell, a deputy superintendent with the American University School of Kuwait. She lives in Georgia and has her superintendent’s certification in that state. Jewell has also been chief operations officer of an educational consulting firm, has worked in administration at a school in Saudi Arabia and has held several technology director jobs in Georgia.

Current superintendent Rob Thomason will be stepping down at the end of the school year after five years on the job.

The public will be able to meet the three candidates in Petersburg the last week in March.
It’s a busy winter for school administrator vacancies in Southeast. Sitka just hired a new superintendent, Wrangell and Haines are hiring and Juneau’s top administrator is resigning at the end of June as well.

The public can meet the three candidates at Wednesday March 26th at 7 p.m. at the high school library