4J's Cydney Vandercar named as finalist for superintendent of Greater Albany Public Schools
Eugene School District's Interim Superintendent Cydney Vandercar is being considered for the role of superintendent of Greater Albany Public Schools.
Vandercar is one of two finalists to become the new permanent superintendent of GAPS, as originally reported by the Corvallis Gazette-Times on Tuesday.
The school board announced her and Andy Gardner — the current superintendent of North Santiam School District — as the top two candidates for the post during a board meeting Monday night.
"We've come a long way, and we're at an important point in the process. We've gone through the applications, we've gone through stakeholder meetings, we've had stakeholder interviews, and the board had a chance to look at the candidates, as well," said Steven Lowder, with search consultant group McPherson and Jacobson LLC. "The consensus from all of these groups and all through the process, we have come up with two candidates that we recommend to the board for finalist interviews."
GAPS has close to 9,000 students, so it would be a smaller district than the one Vandercar is currently leading. 4J has about 16,500 students, according to the latest Oregon Department of Education data.
Related: Oregon graduation rate declines, a first since 2014, but Bethel, Springfield schools improve
GAPS's school board has been searching for a new permanent superintendent since June after deciding 3-1 in a special meeting to fire then-Superintendent Melissa Goff. Rob Saxton has been filling in as interim superintendent since being hired in August.
Vandercar has been interim superintendent of Eugene School District 4J for the past two school years, after being appointed by the school board in spring 2020. The board originally appointed her for the one year, hoping the pandemic would wane enough to undergo a full search for a permanent superintendent during the 2020-2021 school year.
However, the pandemic only worsened. So, the board chose to extend Vandercar's contract as interim superintendent for another school year to provide some needed continuity through colliding challenges of COVID-19, construction of new schools through district bond projects and more.
Related: Eugene families invited to online community forums for superintendent search this month
4J also is searching for a permanent new superintendent this year, but is still early in the process. The district posted the job position in December and is in the process of having hearing from the community about what it wants in a district leader.
The board's working timeline is to narrow applicants to semi-finalists in February, narrow to finalists in March and make a final decision on who to hire in April.
GAPS' school board intends to publicly announce its new hire for superintendent on Feb. 4, according to the timeline on its website. The new superintendent would not start until July 1.
Contact reporter Jordyn Brown at jbrown@registerguard.com or 541-246-4264, and follow her on Twitter @thejordynbrown and Instagram @registerguard. Support local journalism, subscribe to The Register-Guard.
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: 4J's Cydney Vandercar is a finalist for superintendent of Albany schools
