Atwater was selected as KPBSD superintendent March 9, after a day of interviews with four other selected applicants. With board members planning to be out of town in the near future, a condensed application and interview period was designed to ensure full-board involvement in choosing the new superintendent.

According to Board President Sammy Crawford, Kalifornsky Beach, the board reviewed 11 completed applications between March 8 and 9, narrowing the list of candidates down to five. Those included Atwater; Todd Syverson, principal of Soldotna High School; Dr. Marshall Blankenship, superintendent of the North Slope Borough School District; Dr. Kenneth Ladouceur, superintendent of the Gilpin County, Colo., School District RE-1; and Guy Fisher, who was most recently a superintendent for Jefferson County, Ore., 509J School District from 2005-2007.

Beginning at 10 a.m., March 10, the board gave each applicant an hour to answer the same 15 questions. Any remaining time was given to the applicants to further speak about their credentials. Questions ran the gamut of the position's responsibilities, allowing applicants to speak to their abilities on issues such as communication with the community, finances, the future of education in the district, working with the board and working in a district with diverse needs.

Interviews concluded after 4 p.m., allowing the board time to review written comments submitted by community members on the applicants. At 7 p.m. the board reconvened in a special public meeting to deliberate on the applicants.

Joe Arness, Nikiski, moved to offer Atwater a one-year contract starting in June that would be open to renewal at year's end. He spoke highly of all the applicants, but said he believed Atwater would best serve the district.

"Everyone here wanted to solicit applications from outside the district in a good faith effort to find out if there was an outside individual who could offer something we didn't already have," Arness said. "In my mind, I didn't see that."

Each board member, aside from Marty Anderson, Sterling, who was not in attendance, supported Arness' motion to approve Atwater as the next district superintendent.

Penny Vadla, Soldotna, praised Atwater, saying, "I see someone who is soft-spoken, but is a strong leader. Someone who is thinking, and someone who has experience."

Board members also stressed that though they were choosing a candidate from in-house, they were impressed by the offerings of the other four, one of whom also works within the district.

"Both the local candidates have a great deal to offer, and I hope they will continue to do so," said Liz Downing, Homer.

Several board members also made a point to emphasize that despite hearing points to the contrary, the application process was never a done deal, and no decisions were made in advance.

"This is our own decision," said Sunni Hilts, Seldovia. "We each make this decision personally. I've had contacts that told me I already had made my decision. I feel I'm an ethical person, I feel that we all have kids first in our minds and I know that I sat here today with an absolutely open mind and heard some very good things."

A process to find a new West Homer principal began after Walsworth announced in January his plans to make this his last year with the district. Hurley has spent eight years at Metlakatla, a school of 145 students from kindergarten through sixth grade. While there, Hurley helped the school earn the distinction of being named a No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon School in 2007. Prior to that, he spent two years as principal of an elementary school in Durango, Colo., which followed three years as a teacher principal in the southwest Alaska community of Ekwok.

"I'm very excited to be going up there," Hurley told the Homer News in a phone interview last week.

Having spent some time in the Homer area with his son several years ago, he recalled "what a nice place, what a setting" Homer offers.

"When I told my son I got the job in Homer, he was beside himself." Hurley said.

He is considering flying up in early May to reacquaint himself with the area, put faces to names heard over the telephone and to begin making arrangements for his move.

"Then, as far as being a full-time person, I'll probably be there sometime in July," Hurley said.

Having shared with others his selection as West Homer's new principal, Hurley said, "Everybody I've mentioned this to speaks highly of the Kenai Peninsula. It's obviously a high functioning school. I'm going to learn more in that first year and beyond from all those folks than they'll learn from me."

Of what he's leaving behind in Metlakatla, he said, "I've been lucky to be here. It's a great group of kids and wonderful teachers."

McKibben Jackinsky can be reached at mckibbenjackinsky.@homernews.com. Dante Petri is a reporter for the Peninsula Clarion.