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During a 90-minute Zoom meeting Monday, La Conner School Board Members heard results of public focus group sessions on the status of the district, then began setting a salary range for the next superintendent.

Consultants Mark Venn and Dr. Wayne Robertson said about 100 focus group participants identified district strengths and challenges and the attributes the public values in a superintendent.

“There was a lot of really good feedback,” Venn said of the teleconferenced meetings. “We had a wide range of groups, from alumni to the Chamber of Commerce to the Swinomish Tribal Community to two student groups.”

Former La Conner School board members were one group.

Venn and Robertson said the focus groups cited as strengths the district’s diverse yet tightly knit composition, local quality of life, the variety of opportunities available to students and a general sense of optimism here.

Maintaining strong ties with Swinomish was likewise listed.

Challenges include COVID-19 issues related to transitioning from on-line to in-person classroom instruction and the need to rebuild relationships strained by contentious employee contract negotiations and personnel decisions rendered two years ago by former superintendent Whitney Meissner.

Having good communication skills, an affinity for public interaction, a collaborative leadership style and personal traits including honesty and integrity are highly valued, Venn and Robertson said.

Possessing a sense of humor, being fiscally astute and wanting to remain here for an extended period were also emphasized.

Those skills and experiences require a salary increase, likely in the $170,000 to $180,000 range. That will bring the La Conner position in line with Concrete and Coupeville district pay scales.

“We need a (salary) floor of $170,000,” said Board Member John Agen. “I like to think of myself as being frugal, but we want someone of high enough quality to move our district forward. (Administrative) turnover is horrible and a superintendent who is excellent will more than save $15,000 with their management skills.

“I believe quality and leadership starts at the top,” Wilbur agreed. “In this day and age, money attracts talent.”

“If we post (the job) at $170,000,” board member Lynette Cram said, “I feel confident we’re going to get an incredible pool of candidates.”

The board also resumed its review of “Blindspot” as part of developing a district policy on race and equity. Student representative MacQuaid Hiller led the discussion.

“In January,” said Board President Susie Gardner Deyo, “we need to roll up our sleeves and really pursue this.