Board names Thonstad school superintendent

Ted Thonstad will become Sisters' new school superintendent this summer.

"The Sisters School District has unanimously agreed to hire Ted Thonstad as our superintendent," School Board Vice Chairman Bill Reed said on Monday, June 28.

Thonstad is currently serving as superintendent of schools in Condon.

According to Reed, Thonstad will transition from his duties there to Sisters over the summer, being in the Sisters district part-time in July and coming on board full-time sometime in August.

"We do not have a signed contract at this time," Reed said. "We are in the process of working out the transition."

Thonstad said he is looking forward to coming to Sisters.

"Sisters is an exciting school district," he said. "It's exciting both from its academic achievements and from an innovation standpoint."

Thonstad said he is impressed by the way Sisters schools integrate technology into education and by the programs that create school-community connections, make education relevant to students and "open up the world of work" to students.

"I think that's very, very important," Thonstad said.

Thonstad's enthusiasm and excitement about Sisters was part of his appeal for the board.

"He was probably the most enthusiastic candidate that we had out of all the candidates we interviewed," Reed said.

The board was also impressed with Thonstad's financial and business background. Thonstad was successful in private business before changing careers to move into school administration.

"Ted has a thorough understanding of Oregon school finance," Reed said. "He has experience in private industry running his own business as well as working with major corporations."

Reed said that Thonstad, who served for a decade on the Redmond School Board and founded that district's schools foundation "is absolutely committed to children and young people."

The new superintendent said his priorities during the transition period are to understand the financial picture of the district, which has budgeted for program cuts and cuts to next year's calendar to meet shortfalls.

"I want to get a handle on that as soon as possible," he said.

He said he wants to meet staff and administrators and community members to understand their "take" on the district.

Thonstad will continue to divide his time between Sisters and Condon for some weeks as he makes sure that a major renovation of a 1923-vintage Condon elementary school is on the right track before he leaves the district.