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TIM CURRAN
THE MID-COUNTY MEMO
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| At the 2011 Parkrose Educational Foundation Dinner and Auction, Parkrose Superintendent Dr. Karen Fischer Gray, left, one of four finalists for the Reynolds School District superintendent job, poses with Parkrose school board member James Woods and PEF board member Allison Newman Woods. Mid-county Memo photo/Tim Curran |
The new superintendent replaces Joyce Henstrand, who retires June 30.
Asked if she thought her work in Parkrose was finished, Fischer Gray, who was Coos Bay School District Superintendent before moving to Parkrose in 2007 said, “You are never finished in a school district and I dearly love Parkrose. This is a possibility for extending my experience as a career educator.”
Parkrose, one of five school districts in Portland, has an enrollment of 3,465 students.
Counting charter school enrollment, Reynolds, directly east of Parkrose, has more than 11,000 students.
Parkrose school board member James Woods said of the announcement, “Karen is the longest serving and lowest paid superintendent in the Portland area. She is very highly regarded at all levels of government. Since she has arrived at Parkrose, she has turned down more raises than she has taken, mostly to show that she is sharing the pain of the budget cuts.” He went on, “One of her former staff members (Jeff Rose), whom she helped train for the superintendence, heads the Beaverton School District and just recently, she was awarded Governor John Kitzhaber's Public Health Leadership Award.” He added, “Karen has served in Parkrose longer than expected, to the advantage of the district, but at the expense of sharing her expertise with other larger school districts.”
Former school board member Mark Gardner does not share Woods' appraisal of Fischer Gray. “I hope she gets it. It'll be good for Parkrose. She's alienated a lot of people around here.” Among his complaints about her performance was the recent passage of the 30-year bond to build a new middle school. “That's the second newest building in the district. With a 30-year bond - a lot of people didn't know it was that long - how can the district go back to voters to replace the older elementary schools over the next 30-years? It isn't going to happen.”
In a letter sent to Parkrose parents and patrons Fischer Gray said, “I love Parkrose. Plain and simple. However, I am at a place in my career where I need to check out various possibilities. My life has been a journey that has led me from one place to another, one set of experiences building the next. My life is children, 24-7. That's what I care about. Both districts provide a way for me to apply the skills I have acquired throughout the last 32 years of my life in service to education and communities.”
Besides Fischer Gray, the other finalists for the job are Dr. David L. Gray, assistant superintendent for Battle Ground, Wash., schools; Linda Florence, superintenednet of Ontario, Ore. schools; and retired superintendent James Feil, of Traverse City, Mich.
Candidates will visit Reynolds for interviews with the school board the week of April 2.
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