Community meets school candidates

The two finalists for the position of Sisters Schools Superintendent spent a long day in Sisters on Monday, meeting with staff and community members and touring the school district each hopes to lead.

Curtiss Scholl of Salem-Keizer School District and Joe Wehrli of St. Paul School District each met with community members in a Q&A session at Sisters High School Monday evening.

The questions were probing and revealed different strengths and styles in the two candidates.

Wehrli, who has been the superintendent for St. Paul School District in St. Paul, Oregon, since 2013, talked about his experiences and successes in negotiating contracts with staff where there had previously been a rift between staff and the school board. He also discussed his experience passing a bond, noting that is it critical to listen to the public.

Wehrli also emphasized the importance of supporting teachers, citing professional development as the most critical element in creating positive educational outcomes.

"If I had one dollar to spend on public education, it would be on professional development," he said.

Professional development is also a priority for Curt Scholl, currently principal at Sprague High School in the Salem-Keizer School District, a position he has held since 2009. In that position, he oversaw a marked improvement in test scores among students.

"We did a lot of professional development, a lot of support," he said.

He believes that administrators can leverage scarce resources to provide that development, going out and bringing back high-impact instructional practices and identifying resources that already exist in a district among teachers who are engaged in successful practices.

Both candidates are attracted to the natural beauty and strong community of Sisters Country.

Wehrli has strong connections to the area. He and his wife were married at Chapel in the Pines.

I've had a deep love for this geographical area for many years," he said, noting that he's attended local events offered by the Sisters Folk Festival.

Scholl noted that both he and his wife come from small-town backgrounds and are looking to return to that way of life.

"We never envisioned that we would be raising our four children in a large city," he said.

Wehrli was the associate executive director for the Oregon School Boards Association and other positions from 2004-2013. Wehrli was an elementary principal in the Salem-Keizer School District for four years, and an assistant high school principal for one year.

Asked to describe a particular quality he brings to the table, Wehrli said, "The really critical piece that I bring with me is a statewide look at education. I've seen some things that are really creative in education."

He said that models of success have to be adapted to local conditions and the resources available.

Scholl was an assistant principal at West Linn High School for three years and principal at Vernonia High School for three years. While working in the West Linn-Wilsonville School District, he attended Harvard University's "Principal's Corner" and was recognized as a Teacher of Excellence.

He cited his energy and passion as strengths.

"My passion is school; it really is," he said. "And the whole thing. I'm passionate about making whatever organization I'm involved with as good as it can be."

Faced with a choice between two highly qualified candidates, the school board discussed their decision late into the night on Monday. A decision and a contract offer to one of the candidates is expected this week.