The Anchorage School Board named four initial members to its committee to find the school district's next superintendent Monday after announcing three days earlier that it would not renew Superintendent Ed Graff's contract when it expires next year.
"As we proceed forward and build our framework and plan we will identify additional members representing different factors of the community and staff to ensure we have a broad array of voices and perspectives," said school board President Kameron Perez-Verdia.
Perez-Verdia listed those involved in the committee as Jerry Covey, a former Alaska commissioner of education; Susan Anderson, president and chief executive officer of The CIRI Foundation; Sven Gustafson, principal at Romig Middle School; and Lee Butterfield, teacher at South Anchorage High School.
Aside from Perez-Verdia's brief statement, little was said during the public meeting about Friday's announcement that the school board would look for a new superintendent.
Two members of Great Alaska Schools, a grass-roots organization that campaigns for school funding, provided public testimony at the evening meeting about the issue. They thanked Graff for his dedication to students and called for a transparent search for his replacement.
"We all need to embrace the new leadership and being as inclusive as possible will make all the difference," said Alyse Galvin, a member of the organization.
None of the other school board members spoke publicly at the meeting about Graff's pending departure from the position of superintendent. Anchorage School Board member Kathleen Plunkett said that all of the board's comments on the contract would come from Perez-Verdia.
"That way it's one message that's the same. That's the main reason," she said.
School board member Pat Higgins said that the board could not comment on the specifics of the contract renewal because that decision came in executive session. He said Perez-Verdia's statement Friday on the contract was "accurate and appropriate."
"I think if you go back to that it says we want to be very aggressive on (Destination) 2020 goals, we want to get the academic achievement up, we want to get graduation rates up and we have ... to be aggressive, we need to be innovative. It's not going to be easy and we're just looking to achieve those goals," he said.
The school board appointed Graff as superintendent in 2013 after Jim Browder unexpectedly retired eight months into his three-year contract. Graff, 47, has worked in the school district since 1991 as a teacher, principal and then the chief academic officer.
Perez-Verdia announced at a press conference Friday that the school district would not renew Graff's contract when it expired in March. He said that the school district needed new leadership to achieve its "very aggressive goals."
On Monday, he again said in an interview that the details of why specifically the board would not renew the contract remained guarded under executive session and underscored that "the decision didn't come lightly at all."
Graff earned an annual salary of $180,000 as superintendent, according to Heidi Embley, school district spokeswoman. His contract was extended until June to help with the superintendent search and transition.