Kodiak school board names Damon Hargraves superintendent on one-year contract

The Kodiak Island Borough School District Board of Education voted 4-0 Monday to make acting superintendent Damon Hargraves the district's superintendent, on a one-year contract with a review in March.

Hargraves is the third person to lead the district this year. Cyndy Mika resigned effective June 30, and the board accepted her successor Dan Brigman's resignation Sept. 28, less than three months into his tenure, Alaska News reported. Hargraves, then assistant superintendent, has been acting superintendent since.

The board chose not to treat the job as temporary and to give Hargraves the full authority of superintendent, said Kerry Irons, who presided as vice president. She said Hargraves has central office experience as a director but had been assistant superintendent for only three months.

"For that reason, we chose to make this a one-year contract and we included a provision in the contract to re-evaluate Mr. Hargraves in March," Irons said.

Board member Duncan Fields said the board worked on the contract for two to three weeks. "I actually think it's below market if you look at across the state of Alaska," he said. Fields said the contract is a public document. Hargraves' salary was not in the meeting agenda, the board's discussion or the district's announcement.

Hargraves has worked for the district since 2011, including as principal of Peterson Elementary and director of federal programs. He grew up in Ketchikan and started teaching in the Bering Strait School District. He took the superintendent's oath of allegiance after the vote.

The assistant superintendent job is now empty. Irons said Hargraves has already raised staffing needs that creates, and the board will support him as they are identified.

Fields, Irons, Jesse Mickelson and Jim Pryor voted yes. Mike Litzow was excused. Earlier in the meeting, the board elected Litzow president in his absence, replacing Irons, after the Oct. 6 borough election returned Fields and Irons to the board. Fields said the change followed a long practice of rotating the chair and did not reflect dissatisfaction with Irons.