Interim schools chief named superintendent

After the two remaining candidates for Seattle school superintendent withdrew from consideration today, the School Board voted 6-1 to name interim Seattle schools chief Raj Manhas as superintendent, with a one-year contract.

Both Steven Adamowski and Evelyn Castro bowed out of contention before the board began closed-door deliberations to consider its options. Libia Gil and Joan Kowal had withdrawn earlier.

When the board met later in a public session, only board member Mary Bass voted against hiring Manhas. She said the process was rushed and that Manhas should be retained as interim superintendent, then evaluated in a few months to see if he should be offered the permanent position.

The other board members agreed to begin negotiating a contract for Manhas, and said they hope to vote on it at their Oct. 15 meeting.

Board president Nancy Waldman, who spoke with Adamowski this morning, said he withdrew because of a lack of support from the district's search-advisory committee, the mayor and Seattle's newspaper editorial boards.

Castro, in an interview, said, "It seems like people were taking sides, and everybody must come together to lift the children up." She said she felt people were unhappy with the search process as well. "It didn't make sense to cause more confusion."

Castro, who said she made her decision last night, suggested she'd be happy to apply again in the future.

"Maybe some day I'll be there," she said. "Right now what's more important is that everybody be calm. It's a very good school district with some very good people."

From the beginning of its national search, the School Board did not rule out retaining Manhas if it couldn't reach consensus on one of the finalists selected through a screening process.

After the School Board announced the finalists two weeks ago and the candidates came to town for interviews and public forums, the board's advisory committee of community leaders was unable to rally behind one of the four. There were various camps in favor of either Adamowski, Castro or Gil, but no single finalist appeared to have broad support from teachers, parents, taxpayers, business and minority groups.

The only person who has received such broad approval is the one who didn't apply - Manhas, the district's chief operating officer since October 2001. The board appointed him interim superintendent in June. In a recent interview, Manhas said being interim superintendent "has been the most satisfying job I've had in my life."

Since Manhas became interim superintendent, community leaders say the former chief operating officer has established a reputation for building trust with diverse groups, making tough decisions without alienating stakeholders and keeping public discussions focused on academic achievement.

Manhas spent about 17 years, most of them as a manager, in the banking industry, first at Rainier National Bank and then at Security Pacific Bank Northwest. He then joined the newly merged division of facilities maintenance and development at the Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation, where he was credited with uniting blue-collar shop workers and white-collar planners behind common goals. He went on to work as deputy superintendent of the Seattle Water Department for a year before becoming director of field operations for Seattle Public Utilities in 1997.

Former Superintendent Joseph Olchefske recruited Manhas, who joined Seattle Public Schools almost two years ago.

Sanjay Bhatt: 206-464-3103 or sbhatt@seattletimes.com