t NKSD board unanimously approves Jones for superintendent.

POULSBO — Barring any unforeseen glitches in the negotiations process, Richard Jones will succeed Gene Medina as the North Kitsap School District superintendent. The NKSD Board of Directors unanimously selected Jones late Thursday evening as the superintendent designee.

“Congratulations,” Medina said as the board members broke into a round of applause to honor their work.

The decision allows board President Melanie Mohler to develop a contract that will be negotiated with Jones. The final contract will be brought before the board for approval.

Contractual negotiations will include salary, benefits, monthly travel reimbursement, professional development funds, vacation days, reimbursement for unused vacation days, contributions to an annuity fund and performance review.

The board agreed the superintendent’s salary will align with that of other regional superintendents in districts similar in size to NKSD, the benefits will be similar to other NKSD administrators’, vacation days will be in the range of Medina’s, who receives 24 a year plus holidays, and the board will meet twice a year to review the new superintendent’s performance.

“We’ll get a contract hopefully together and then we need to have discussions next week,” Mohler said. “The vote then needs to be taken in public for the final and accepting the contract.”

The board hired Cascade Consulting Group to sift through applicants and narrow down candidates. On May 1 the two finalists, Jones and Mary Vedra, sat before the board and answered questions as their final step in the application process.

Board members were not yet ready to discuss the reasoning behind choosing Jones. They’ll remain tight-lipped until the negotiation process is complete.

“You know I think we’re just going to have to go into that after we have a contract negotiated,” Mohler said. “It’s important for me to have a signature on the line before I start talking about whys and why nots between the two candidates.”

Vice President Tom Anderson was also guarded.

“Why not?” Anderson replied when asked why Jones was the top applicant.

Jones comes to the district with 16 years of superintendent end experience already behind him. From 1992-1998 Jones served at the Ocosta School District’s superintendent. Jones is presently the superintendent for the Burlington-Edison School District, a position he’s held since 1999.