Candidate from Alaska chosen as North Thurston Public Schools’ new superintendent
The North Thurston Public Schools board voted 4-1 late Wednesday night to name Justin Ainsworth superintendent of the county’s largest school district.
Ainsworth will replace current superintendent Debra Clemens who announced earlier this year that she is retiring. Her last day is June 30.
Ainsworth, who will start July 1, is set to earn $330,000 a year, according to a job listing for the position.
Wednesday’s vote took place about 10:45 p.m., about three hours after the finalists for the job had wrapped up a community meeting in the district boardroom in Lacey. The two other finalists were Troy Oliver, current assistant superintendent of operations for the district, and Thu Ament, deputy superintendent for the Sumner-Bonney Lake School District.
In the end, the board did not choose Oliver for continuity or Ament as the regional candidate, but voted instead for Ainsworth, associate superintendent in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District in Palmer, Alaska.
“Dr. Ainsworth’s leadership philosophy, instructional experience, and passion for equitable and high-quality education opportunities for all students make him the right person to lead NTPS into the future,” said NTPS Board President Gretchen Maliska in a statement. “The board is confident in his ability to keep student success at the center of all we do.”
However, the vote was not unanimous. The recently elected Esperanza Badillo-Diiorio voted against Ainsworth, spokeswoman Amy Blondin said late Wednesday.
About 5 p.m., the finalists began to gather with the community in a meeting that was somewhat unusual. The community meeting and a school board executive session took place at the same time, although in separate locations inside the district headquarters building. The board interviewed the candidates one by one, and once their interviews were over, each finalist headed to the community meeting.
Although there were separate meetings, some board members did observe the community meeting, spokeswoman Blondin said Thursday. Finalists also met with students and staff earlier in the day and some board members observed those interactions, Blondin said. The board also received survey comments after the community meeting.
Ainsworth was the last finalist to address about 50 people.
Here is some of what he was asked and his responses:
On the strengths and challenges of the district: “Chronic absenteeism is a macro issue that we have to figure out and get our arms around and figure it out as a community,” he said. “The district and schools will do the heavy work, but it takes many hands. There’s also a ninth-grade graduation-on-track problem. There are lots of great things going on in the district, but something is not happening at the ninth-grade level with our students, so we need to figure out our systems and what’s happening and what the root cause is.”
On addressing controversies: “My job is to stay objective, stay neutral, collect the facts and be transparent but also recognize there’s a limit on transparency,” he said. “I work with a superintendent who is phenomenal with the media. We don’t close the doors to them and there was no blockade; there was trust. And if you have some trust with the media, they are going to understand what you can and cannot say.”
On the critical issues facing education: “Teacher recruitment, retaining teachers, training teachers. We are having a harder time getting young people to see education as a viable career and we need to fix it in a hurry,” he said. “Those kids are here, the aptitude is here, the talent is here. Artificial intelligence worries me. How do we teach our kids to navigate AI and use it appropriately? Mental health, chronic absenteeism, and how we use AI, those are big macro issues that we have to keep in the conversation.”
On the removal of books from libraries: Ainsworth was asked about books being challenged at his current school district in Alaska. He said that libraries there have become controversial, finally prompting his school board to form a committee he chairs to review library policy and to review books challenged by the community. He said most of the recommendations that have emerged from the committee acknowledge that the book is fine, but is perhaps best for high school students, he said. Ainsworth acknowledged that the process has divided the community and unfortunately some librarians have been painted with a broad brush, he said.
Not everyone was pleased with Wednesday’s meeting format. Lacey Equity Commissioner Thelma Jackson attended the gathering and said it fell short of her expectations. There was little to no interaction with the finalists, they answered a predetermined set of board questions, and the questions she submitted were not asked, she said.
“This is not an open community engagement process,” Jackson said.
She also was disappointed that there was little diversity in the superintendent finalists and no female candidates.
“This process has just not been one of inclusivity for this community,” she said.
What do records show?
As part of the process in selecting a new superintendent, the board solicited comment from staff and the community. The Olympian filed a public records request in late February to see those comments and received them April 3.
The board received 166 comments in response to the following question: What would you like prospective candidates to know about your district and community?
Here are some of those responses:
▪ We are needing a more diverse-driven candidate who looks more at our schools with a broader lens and will hear our students and parents when issues arise in our schools and really dive into and find the underlying issue and not sweep it under the rug.
▪ We have been talked down to and fed a lot of fluff over the years. There have been many administrative/district office personnel moves when individuals should be fired. We’ve had too many dog-and-pony shows and the district office is out of touch with the issues in schools.
▪ Our district has been under a large brain drain for several years. HR was gutted, our special education support staff and para-educators are understaffed. Our leaders take a lot of photos with our special education students, but do not spend any time with them. We can do much better.
▪ We have a growing multilingual learners group that is starting to get noticed and listened to. This work needs to be followed as their needs are crucial to survive in our community.
▪ I would like the candidate to know that our teachers and students in our district would like to be heard. We need leadership that can commit to the staff, students and community. Most of us employees are parents and live in the community and we all come from different races, ethnicities and culture. We need someone who will support our students and families with academics and resources to be successful. We need a leader who will be friendly and acknowledge and show gratitude to ALL the staff.
▪ That despite what it may look like on the outside, we have been poorly led. The current superintendent sees staff as drones who serve her, the queen. Decisions do not balance the needs of the staff and the needs of the students and only seem to be made with the intention of appearing pro-active and forward-thinking while accomplishing nothing, or actually moving the district backwards.
▪ I would like the prospective candidate to know that they should reflect the student body and members of our community. Our beautiful community is diverse and we are on Native land. As a teacher who has worked in the district, I am ashamed of the weak attempts of highlighting our native community.
▪ That NTPS is a great community full of thriving students. However, we have some students that have not recovered from the impacts (socially, emotionally, or academically) from COVID and the pandemic. We need someone innovative that isn’t afraid to try hard things for the betterment of all students.
▪ We need someone with real compassion and an understanding of basic education needs in our schools. Enrollment is down, test scores are down, enthusiasm is down, communication is down, transparency is down. Our current superintendent has done a lousy job of maintaining our district to the level it once was. Leave the politics out of the district and get back to basic education ... FOR THE KIDS!!!
▪ Strong military presence. Diversity issues are essential. Community, city and district working together, close ties. Fiscally responsible.
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