Big shakeup as 3 Kennewick school administrators announce they’re leaving. What’s next
Three Kennewick School District administrators will be leaving their posts in the coming months, including the top executive.
Superintendent Traci Pierce announced this week plans to retire in June 2025, setting the stage for an 18-month succession plan and a likely nationwide search for her replacement.
She and her husband plan to stay in the community after she leaves the school district.
“I was blessed to join KSD in 2019 after serving 24 years in Lake Washington School District,” Pierce wrote in a provided statement. “The years have gone by fast, and I love KSD and the people here. I will be retiring having served over 30 years in public education, with 12 of those years serving as superintendent.”
Kennewick is the Tri-City’s largest school district, serving more than 19,000 students and employing more than 2,000 workers.
The departure of Pierce and other administrators marks an era of heavy transition for the district and school board.
Beginning next year, the district will resume collection of local property taxes after voters twice rejected levy measures in 2022.
Because the district went a year without local taxes and state matching funds, the board and administrators will need to figure out how to repair the $5 million annual spending deficit.
▪ Associate Superintendent of Human Resources Doug Christensen also is leaving the district at the end of the month for a new opportunity with the Hanford Mission Integration Solutions.
Christensen’s career with the district started in 1996. He’s held spots as a teacher and an assistant principal for Kamiakin High School, and also served as director of special services for the district.
▪ And Vic Roberts, executive director of business operations, plans to retire this summer after 18 years with the school district and 34 years in the public sector.
Roberts played a crucial role in guiding district finances through the COVID pandemic and reorganizing federal COVID-relief funds to plug the hole made in absence of local funding.
The district will undergo some substantial organizational changes over the coming months to prepare for these departures, Pierce said, which may include hiring a deputy successor superintendent to guide the transition and step into the role after Pierce retires.
The school board voted unanimously at its regular business meeting this week to begin drafting a timeline to search for a new superintendent and hire a search firm.
“Congratulations to Dr. Pierce on her retirement announcement. We are truly blessed to have her in the Kennewick School District,” wrote newly elected school board President Gabe Galbraith. “It’s because of her exceptional leadership that KSD has been able to navigate through some of the most difficult challenges the district has ever faced.”
Two new school board members — Brittany Gledhill and Josh Miller — were welcomed at Wednesday’s meeting.
The duo replaced former members Ron Mabry, who was recently elected to the Washington State Education Board, as well as Diane Sundvik. Neither of them sought re-election.
The school board voted for new officers at the meeting, promoting first-term school board member Micah Valentine to a leadership role as vice president.
30-year education career
The Kennewick School Board hired Pierce four years ago after conducting a nationwide search that ended in her and Christensen being named as the finalists.
Pierce spent the previous six years leading Washington’s second-largest school district, Lake Washington.
The Western Washington school district includes the cities of Kirkland, Redmond and Sammamish.
She held multiple positions as the deputy superintendent of instructional services, chief schools officer, director of teaching and learning, coordinator of instructional technology and was a principal and assistant principal.
Before taking the top job at Kennewick, Pierce was a superintendent finalist for the Mead School District. She came to Eastern Washington to be closer to family.
In 2019, Pierce replaced Dave Bond, who had led Kennewick as superintendent for more than a decade prior.
