Superintendent search suspended; Kludt-Painter to serve one-year term

Erika Kludt-Painter will be offered a one-year contract to serve as superintendent for the Petersburg School District in the 2015-16 school year. After meeting in executive session, the school board voted to suspend the superintendent search and instead proceed with contract negotiations with Kludt-Painter at the March 17 meeting of the board.

"I appreciate the confidence and the support of the board and of the staff and community," she said. "I feel like I've had a lot of support and encouragement, and I don't think I would have accepted the possibility without that."

She has been serving as interim-superintendent since December when she was appointed in Lisa Stroh's absence for family medical leave. Following Stroh's resignation on December 31, Kludt-Painter was asked by the board to continue serving as superintendent through the 2014-15 school year.

Teri Toland has taken Kludt-Painter's position as the elementary school principal and will continue to serve in that capacity for the 2015-16 school year. Toland has been teaching second grade at the school. Kludt-Painter said they will start looking to fill that teaching slot for next year as a temporary position.

So far $1,500 of the $7,000 cost associated with the search through the Association of Alaska School Boards has been spent on the process. The rest of the money can be recouped from the organization.