Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Dr. Jake Dingman has a new job which includes half of his old one.
“It’s going to be awesome. It will be,” said Dingman, the superintendent-to-be in Palouse and current superintendent and principal of Oakesdale.
For his new post, he will give up his principal role in Oakesdale to become the superintendent of both Palouse and Oakesdale districts.
He will replace Bev Fox, who is retiring after nine years as superintendent.
Dingman, a former American history teacher from Colorado, has been at his post in Oakesdale for four years.
He came here as a single father of three and met his wife to be, Sonia Brown who had two children of her own. They now have a six-month-old addition to the family.
“I met her in Oakesdale, what are the chances?” Dingman said.
When Fox announced her retirement in January, Palouse board chairman Mike Dymkoski contacted Oakesdale board chair Cap Perry to ask about the search process. They started talking about sharing a superintendent, on the model of how Gary Wargo shares the role for LaCrosse and St. John/Endicott.
At a joint board meeting March 14 in Garfield to discuss the arrangement, board members for all three schools discussed the move along with Mike Dunn, E.S.D. Superintendent.
“It wasn’t really a search because they were asking if I could do it,” said Dingman.
It’s not set yet where Dingman’s office will be, but he will have a space at each school.
“I will make a very dedicated effort to be in both buildings,” he said. “As we do this, we’re gonna learn a lot.”
Dingman will formally start July 1. Oakesdale junior high teacher Jason Reed will take over as principal at Oakesdale.
Zane Wells remains as superintendent and principal at Garfield which runs a co-operative with Palouse for middle school and high school students.
Fox also served as principal for Palouse. A search is underway for a new principal with Dingman participating.
“So the work’s started,” he said. The goal is to post the position next week.
“By the end of April we should know who the Palouse principal’s going to be,” Dingman said.
He indicated that the job of principal and superintendent are both rewarding.
“Being principal is a fun job, but the two are very different,” Dingman said. “Superintendent is more of giving the resources to the principal to (reach their goals). The superintendent oversees the budget, it’s more of a legislative role. A superintendent-principal gets pulled out of school a lot because of superintendent duties.”
He is the grandson of a 35-year woodshop teacher in Clear Creek, Colo. Dingman was a student and then a colleague of his grandfather, when he taught at the school for three years before coming to Washington.
Dingman earned his doctorate in Educational Leadership two years ago from the University of Phoenix.
“I loved teaching,” he said. “I really did. But I also love what I do now. Part of the beauty of these small schools is getting to be in the classrooms.”
A meet-and-greet open house session was at Palouse school last week for the new superintendent.
“I think people just want to know who this new guy is,” he said.
On Tuesday, a meeting was scheduled to gather community input on Palouse’s principal search.
Dingman was raised in Lakewood, Colo., a suburb of Denver.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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