For the second time in two years, the Unalaska school board will have to go through the process of hiring a new superintendent.
Jim Wilson — who stepped into the interim position about two months ago — announced his resignation at the school board’s November meeting. He’s worked for Unalaska City School District for more than 20 years, but said it’s time for a change.
“We have raised our family here and have been proud to call Unalaska home for 21 years,” Wilson said in a letter to the board. “The community and school have been welcoming, supporting and encouraging. It has been an honor to serve the school and community and I am forever grateful for the opportunity to have put my roots down here.”
Wilson will be retiring and leaving the island at the end of the school year. He’s been the high school principal for about ten years, but filled the lead administrative role in September after former superintendent Robbie Swint Jr. abruptly resigned.
Swint led the school district for just over a year, having replaced longtime superintendent John Conwell, who held the position for more than a decade. Like Wilson, Conwell had worked for the island’s school district for more than twenty years.
Now, for the second time since 2020, the Unalaska school board will have to find and hire another superintendent.
The school board posted the opening in mid-November and will select finalists at the end of January.
As the board determined the application and hiring timeline, Wilson cautioned board members that it could take a while to fill the vacancy. He said there are fewer people going through superintendent graduate programs than there have been in previous years.
“One of the conversations at the [Association of Alaska School Boards] conference was that they’re concerned about the quality and the number of superintendent candidates out there,” Wilson said. “So I guess I would just encourage the board to consider that in whatever decisions you make.”
According to AASB, Unalaska is one of four districts in the state looking for a new superintendent. The association is assisting with three of those searches, including a vacancy in the Aleutians East Borough district, based in Sand Point.
Finalists in Unalaska’s search will be invited for on-site interviews in mid-February. The island’s new superintendent is slated to start July 1.