Thursday, the North Mason School Board announced the three finalists for the next Superintendent of the North Mason School District. According to a news release, this has been an extensive search that began back in August, and three final candidates are (in alphabetical order):
Dr. Benjamin Gauyan, Assistant Superintendent, Stanwood-Camano School District, Stanwood, Wash.
Dr. Jeff Hardesty, Superintendent, Oroville School District, Oroville, Wash.
Dr. Kristine Michael, Superintendent, Northridge Local School District, Northridge, Ohio.
Below is some background information on these individuals.
Benjamin Gauyan, Ed.D.
Dr. Benjamin Gauyan has more than 30 years of experience in education, starting as a paraprofessional at San Diego Unified School District in 1993. Gauyan obtained his Master’s Degree in Education from Seattle Pacific University in 2001 and then worked for 15 years in Highline Public Schools, as an English Language Learner teacher, Dean of Students and then Principal. In 2009, he completed his Doctorate Degree in Education from the University of Washington. From 2010-2015, he worked at Tacoma Public Schools as a Director of Elementary Education and later Director of Secondary Education before returning to Highline Public Schools as Executive Director of Instructional Leadership. Since 2022 he has served as the Assistant Superintendent at Stanwood-Camano Island School District. Dr. Gauyan’s professional experience includes redefining and opening access to the Highly Capable Program at Stanwood-Camano Island School District, rolling out Title I preschools and summer school programs at Tacoma Public Schools and launching Highline Virtual Academy and Maritime High School at Highline Public Schools.
Jeff Hardesty, Ed.D.
Dr. Jeff Hardesty has worked in public schools since 1997, when he started his teaching career at Moses Lake School District, co-developing and teaching at Midway Middle School. Hardesty completed his Master’s Degree in Curriculum and Instruction at Eastern Washington University in 1999. He continued to work at Moses Lake School District, as a Vice Principal and later a Principal. He then worked for 13 years as a Principal in Tonasket School District. In 2018, he obtained his Doctorate Degree in Education from Washington State University and has served as Superintendent of Oroville School District for the past nine years. Dr. Hardesty’s professional experience includes closing achievement gaps within his first three years of leadership at Oroville School District, which saw three of its schools achieve School of Distinction status during his tenure. He has experience successfully passing operational levies, implementing strategic plans and actively re-engaging families back into schools, re-enrolling 60 students and their families back in Oroville Schools that had previously left the District.
Kristine Michael, Ed.D.
Dr. Kristine Michael has 30-plus years experience in education, starting with teaching third grade at the International School of Luxembourg. She has 15 years of experience as a teacher in Granville, Ohio, primarily teaching fourth grade. During that time, she graduated from The Ohio State University with a Master’s Degree in Education Theory & Practice and continued to work in the Granville Exempted Village School District, including as a Curriculum Coordinator for nearly four years. She then served as Curriculum Director at the International School of Dakar, Senegal. For the past 10 years, she has worked at various Ohio school districts as a Director of Curriculum & Student Services, Assistant Superintendent and then Superintendent, a role she has served in since 2023 at Northridge School District. She obtained her Doctorate of Education from Miami University in Ohio in 2020. Dr. Michael’s professional achievements as Superintendent include closing achievement gaps via literacy scores, facilitating a public-private partnership that led to raising $1.75 million for a $7.9 million athletic stadium project and creating a K-5 STEM program.
These final candidates will individually tour the District and participate in a series of meetings with staff and final interview with the board January 29-31. Additionally, there will be a portion of the tour that all of the staff and community are invited to meet the candidates at a community forum that will take place each evening, from 6:45 to 8 p.m. at the North Mason High School Auditorium(Location might change if A/V is not fixed in time). At the end of the forum there will be a candidate impression survey that will share input to the board that will assist the board in its selection. These forums will also be available to view via ZOOM. Details will be posted on the District Website:
This announcement is the culmination of a comprehensive search conducted by the board with the assistance of the search firm, Ray and Associates, Inc. The search process included many hours of reviewing application materials, interviewing semi-finalist candidates, and carefully assessing the qualifications of the candidates in relation to the candidate profiles determined by the board, district employees and community members. The board evaluated a pool of 24 applicants and last evening finished the 7 semi-finalist interviews narrowing the search down to the 3 finalists.
A final selection for the next Superintendent of North Mason School District is expected next month.
NMSD has been under the leadership of Dana Rosenbach for over 10 years. Rosenbach will be retiring in June of 2025.