SJE Superintendent patch could be long-term fix for small schools

A short-term solution for the St. John/Endicott school cooperative may turn out to be a case study for small school administration throughout the state.

Gary Wargo began work as superintendent of St. John/Endicott schools Monday, adding to his duty as superintendent at LaCrosse.

“It’s been a big learning curve, trying to understand the St. John and Endicott systems and working with a new principal,” said Wargo. “But I’ve had a couple of months to get up to speed on that. Now it’s just a matter of getting to know all the kids and the staff.”

While St. John and LaCrosse are separated geographically by 29 miles, Wargo said technology closes that distance for overseeing the districts.

“We’re using e-mail, and texting and phone calls - even if I’m not at a school and something comes up, I’m always in contact.”

The St. John and Endicott boards decided to hire Wargo in June, after former Superintendent Rick Winters left in May to become the athletic director at Southern Virginia University.

Endicott board chair Greta White said they approached LaCrosse about hiring Wargo to oversee their schools because of the late timing of Winter’s departure.

White said many of the most qualified superintendent candidates had already been hired by the time Winter resigned.

Also, the school boards were in the midst of the process of hiring a principal, after joint principal Rob Roettger left to become the superintendent of the Lind and Ritzville school districts.

“We really wanted to focus on our principal search, which was already underway,” she said. “And it was very late in the season to find a new, great superintendent.”

So the cooperative boards approached LaCrosse about sharing Wargo for a year.

The St. John and Endicott schools hired Colfax native Mike Olson to be principal.

“You know schools are declining in the area, and this is a creative way for them to share resources,” said Wargo. “These opportunities don’t present themselves all the time.”

Mike Dunn, superintendent of Educational Service District 101, the arm of state government which oversees schools in eastern Washington, said combining superintendents may be something small districts have to look at as state revenues continue to decline.

“I think people are starting to look at things like that as a way to share costs,” said Dunn.

He noted a bill was introduced in the legislature last session that would have forced nearly half of the schools in the state to consolidate.

While that bill did not get out of the committee, Dunn said small school funding may continue to be a target of legislators looking to cut costs from the state’s budget.

White noted the idea of having a single superintendent overseeing multiple schools is nothing new.

“When all of this started it came up at one of the meetings that years and years ago, before any of us were around, there was one superintendent for the entire county,” White said.

The three districts will meet in January to review how Wargo’s triple-duty is working for them.

If it is too much work for one person, she said, St. John and Endicott will begin the process of hiring a new superintendent for beginning for the 2012-13 school year.

She added the board hopes Wargo’s multi-school duty will pay off for all three schools.

“We are trying to save money, we are trying to do the right thing for our community, and for our kids,” she said. “However that works.”

For Wargo, the main problem he sees in working for west county schools who have been rivals in athletics for years might be showing favoritism.

On the first day of school at Endicott Tuesday, he noted he will have to stay away from wearing Tigercat blue or Eagle red.

“I have to wear neutral colors,” he said. “I’m wearing green today.”