Let’s share.

That’s the hopeful suggestion from the Port Townsend School Board to the Chimacum School Board.

Both school districts will need new superintendents in the coming school year, as Chimacum Superintendent Rick Thompson and
Port Townsend Superintendent John Polm Jr. are leaving.

Last month, the
Port Townsend School Board sent a letter to the Chimacum board suggesting the two districts partner in their respective searches for new chiefs of public schools.

“Because we will be conducting our searches at the same time, and because the two districts have a history of cooperative and combined efforts in other areas, we are interested in finding ways to team up and share some of the costs of the search,” Port Townsend School Board Chairwoman Jennifer James-Wilson wrote in a May 26 letter to the Chimacum board.

“If discounted consulting fees could be negotiated, or travel, transportation, and accommodation expenses could be split, both districts would benefit from sharing a consultant,” James-Wilson continued. 

“In addition, a prospective consultant may find the idea of conducting a search for two distinct neighboring districts an attractive and interesting proposition.”

Port Townsend hopes to have a search consultant hired by early fall, and would send out its call for a consultant at the end of August.

At the last meeting of the Port Townsend School Board, James-Wilson said the letter would be a topic of discussion for their Chimacum counterparts.

“They will be discussing that letter at their next board meeting,” she said.

James-Wilson said the Port Townsend district will know more after Chimacum responds.

“Yay or nay, hot or cold,” she said.

Chimacum School Board Chairwoman Kristina Mayer said the Port Townsend letter will be on the Chimacum board’s agenda for its meeting Wednesday, June 24.