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Seattle Schools names three finalists for superintendent job

All 3 candidates for Superintendent of  Seattle Public Schools have classroom as well as superintendent experience.   The finalists will be in Seattle next week for interviews.

The finalists are:

Jose Banda, 55, is a former high school principal who now heads the Anaheim City School District, a district that just includes elementary schools.  84 percent of the students in the district are Latino and Banda  is bilingual. 

Sandra Husk, 55, has been Superintendent of Salem-Keizer Schools in Oregon for 6 years. The district is similar in size to Seattle Public Schools.  Husk began her career as an elementary school counselor and teacher. She was also a Superintendent of Mapleton School District in Colorado.  She acknowledges having been arrested for drunk driving in 2000 and pleading guilty to a lesser charge. A Seattle school board member says the search committee was aware of the arrest, but didn’t feel it should keep Husk out of the running. The search committee says it was impressed by the improvement in student achievement and graduation rates made on her watch in Oregon.

Steven Enoch, 62,  is the only one with ties to Washington. He's retiring as Superintendent of the San Ramon Valley Schools near San Francisco.  For 7 years, he was Superintendent of the San Juan Island Schools and was also Superintendent of the time, the Mead school district near Spokane.

Whoever is hired replaces interim superintendent Susan Enfield, who’s leaving to head the Highline schools. She had replaced Maria Goodloe-Johnson, who was fired following a financial scandal. 

Paula is a former host, reporter and producer who retired from KNKX in 2021. She joined the station in 1989 as All Things Considered host and covered the Law and Justice beat for 15 years. Paula grew up in Idaho and, prior to KNKX, worked in public radio and television in Boise, San Francisco and upstate New York.