Charles McNulty, superintendent of the 11,742-student Pulaski County Special School District since July 2018, is one of three finalists for the superintendent’s job in a 22,000-student school district in Washington state.
McNulty and his co-finalists for the leadership role were scheduled to participate Wednesday night in a community forum at the Northshore School District based in Bothell, Wash., about 14 miles northeast of Seattle.
The other finalists are Jeanice Kerr Swift, superintendent of Ann Arbor Public Schools in Michigan since 2013, and Michael Tolley, who currently serves as the Northshore School District’s interim superintendent. He has been the system’s assistant superintendent for the East Region in Northshore, providing supervision of school leaders and special services departments.
McNulty, 60, said in a telephone interview Wednesday afternoon that the Washington job was a special opportunity and not at all a reflection on “the amazing work I get to do with the Pulaski County Special School District.
“I still love working with the county,” he said. “We have some really good people who care for kids, and we are getting some great achievement results right now despite the pandemic. This is just a unique opportunity that came open. I have not done multiple searches or anything like that.”
McNulty, who attended high school and college in nearby Oregon, began his teaching career in another Washington state school district. He and his wife — Yaa Appiah-McNulty, an administrator in the North Little Rock School District — together have four children, including a son who lives a short distance from the Northshore School District.
Twenty-seven people applied for the superintendent’s job, according to the Northshore district website.
Eight applicants were presented to the district’s school board. Final round of interviews for the position were Tuesday and Wednesday this week.
Each finalist was scheduled to participate in a full day of focus group discussions, a school tour, board interview and community forum.
The Northshore School Board is expected to make a final selection during a special meeting on Friday.
The new superintendent is scheduled to begin July 1 in the racially and ethnically diverse district that has more than 2,100 employees and 36 schools.
The district’s student body is 51% white, 25% Asian, 13% Hispanic, 2.3% Black, and 9% multiracial.
Michelle Reid was superintendent of the district for six years before she left the Northshore district for Fairfax County, Va., at the end of the 2021-22 school year.
Reid was praised for maintaining some of the highest graduation rates in Washington, emphasizing inclusivity for traditionally underserved students and being instrumental in passing measures in two bond cycles, thereby increasing resources for the district. She was the Washington state Superintendent of the Year in 2021.