Superintendent Art Jarvis notified the Tacoma School Board of Directors Wednesday that he will serve one more year before retiring as superintendent on June 30, 2012.
In his letter, dated June 15, Jarvis wrote to the Board of Directors: “The 2011-2012 school year will be my 47th in education in Washington State, and my 27th as a superintendent. After this next year, my 5th year as superintendent for Tacoma Public Schools, I will step down with pride for our accomplishments.”
School Board President Kurt Miller expressed surprise when Jarvis handed him the letter Wednesday morning announcing his decision.
“This was Art’s decision,” Miller said, “and after nearly 50 years educating children in school districts throughout the state, he clearly has earned the right to retire proudly on his own terms.”
The Board of Directors hired Jarvis in August 2007 as interim superintendent after the tumultuous departure of Superintendent Charles Milligan, who served the district for a year. After an extensive national search process, the Board named Jarvis superintendent in 2008.
“We brought Art in at a difficult time to be a healer, and he has been that and more for our district,” Miller said. “We all need to thank him for stabilizing the organization, bringing in a top-notch administrative team and ushering in a host of innovations – the Science and Math Institute, Lincoln Center, our rigorous middle school upgrades at Giaudrone, Stewart and Jason Lee and all-day kindergarten district-wide.
“And then his background and experience as a chief financial officer helped us get through one of the most challenging budget seasons in district history. Add it up and it is an amazing series of accomplishments for Art and for Tacoma,” Miller said. “All along the way, too, his wife, Sandy, has been a great partner and support for him here and in his career.”
The Board of Directors met Thursday morning in an executive session in what was planned to be the first day of the lengthy annual process of evaluating the superintendent’s performance. Jarvis’s announcement the day before allowed the board members to shorten their evaluation discussions, Miller said.
“Now, we have our work cut out for us,” Miller said. “Over the next few weeks, we need to look ahead to this transition year, evaluate the needs of the district going forward and establish a process to find a new superintendent.”
In his letter to the Board of Directors, Jarvis thanked the Board members “for the opportunity to join you in the tremendous work underway here in Tacoma. Obviously, I came to be the Interim Superintendent in Tacoma for one year, but as it happened, it has been my pleasure to serve the community through these subsequent years. I wish that it were possible for me to stay with you for years to come and see the fruition of some of the work we have begun, but at this stage of my career, I truly believe that the time has arrived to begin the transition and transfer the work to another. After June 30, 2012, I will watch your progress with great interest from my home in this wonderful community.”
Later Wednesday, Jarvis said “the Peter Pan in me always thought I could go on forever. But when I sat down at the computer to write this letter to the Board of Directors, the words came out very easily. That told me I was making the right decision at the right time.”
Just before coming to Tacoma, Jarvis served as chief financial officer for the Seattle School District from January through July 2007. Before that, he served as superintendent in the Enumclaw School District (11 years), superintendent of South Whidbey Island School District (11 years), assistant superintendent in Enumclaw (12 years), special education consultant for Seattle schools (two years) and teacher in Waitsburg (Walla Walla County) and Enumclaw (five years).
Jarvis earned all his higher education degrees from the University of Washington: Bachelor of Arts in economics, masters in education and doctorate in education.
Superintendents of Washington’s 295 public school districts selected Jarvis as the state’s top school superintendent for 2008-09. The Washington Association of School Administrators also named Jarvis state’s top school administrator in 2005 when he led the Enumclaw School District.