It’s been over a week since Election Day, but Bainbridge Island still had one more top leadership position to vote on.

Boardmembers of the BI School District voted 4-1 to extend the contract of superintendent Amii Thompson for two years at its meeting Nov. 14. That decision means BISD will avoid an expensive nationwide search for a new leader after a major budget shortfall was uncovered in October, but some said it would be worth the cost. Two staff unions, school leadership and some community members agreed that a search could add transparency and diversity to the district — which Thompson has championed throughout her tenure.

BISD board president Mark Emerson said that while the community’s opinions varied, one sentiment repeatedly rose to the top: “I never heard anyone say that Amii was doing a bad or mediocre job. I only ever heard that she was doing a good job.

“For those members of our community who say that only a search can validate Amii’s credentials, I have to remind them that the former superintendent was chosen through that process, and under that administration, we were going to close schools. That’s not to say that a search isn’t valid; it’s just that it’s not the only valid method,” Emerson added.

Boardmembers Evan St Clair, Sanjay Pal and Kelly Cancialosi, along with director of facilities Dane Fenwick, echoed Emerson’s statements. They said Thompson has achieved more in the last 10 months than many superintendents do in three years, and while some community members voiced concern over the importance of equity of opportunity, the choice was clear.

“We need someone to do the job. Not the interview — the job,” St Clair said. “We asked her to step into a situation no one saw coming, and she led. She took on a crisis and led hundreds of people. She fostered a sense of shared purpose that I have not yet seen at this district.”

The district sent out online surveys about the superintendent hiring process to staff and parents in late September. Participants ranked eight district standards by priority, shared what they wanted to see in a superintendent and voted whether BISD should pursue a national search. The district also hosted meetings with school leadership, district administrators, representatives from the teachers and classified employees unions and community members.

Less than 10% of each survey pool responded: 35 employees out of about 550 and 183 parents out of about 2,000. The stakeholder meetings saw 64 staff members in attendance over four meetings and 15 community members at one meeting.

Both the teachers and classified employees unions, the BI Education Association and the BI Educational Support Professional Association, voted to conduct a national search. BIEA conducted its own survey and saw an 83% response rate out of 248 members, with about 60% voting to start a search.

Union members affirmed: It’s not about Thompson’s performance. It’s because a search would honor the process and rebuild trust in the board, which has weakened over the last year. Additionally, this could show the district’s commitment to equity. BISD has a history of hiring from within, and a nationwide search could increase diversity and expertise at a high level.

“As one [BIEA] member stated, ‘Commitment to equity is tested during the hard times. That is when an organization shows its values. The board needs to follow its own policy and run a search and not rely on cronyism to fill the superintendent position,’” wrote the teachers union in a letter to the school board. “Many also believe that a nationwide search that ended with Amii being chosen would strengthen her standing and credibility in our community.”

School leadership agreed, adding that “you don’t know what you don’t know if you haven’t spoken to other candidates.” The board’s most important job is hiring the superintendent, meeting attendees said.

On the other hand, district administration recommended that the board extend Thompson’s contract. She’s essentially been in “a ten-month job interview,” and has risen to the challenge, they said. Additionally, onboarding a new superintendent will take time and resources that the district can’t spare. It may also be challenging to recruit a high-quality candidate to a district that is in a very precarious financial situation, they added.

Community members were split, but those who voted to keep Thompson cited her character as one of her greatest strengths: credibility, authenticity, transparency and responsiveness. They said she also demonstrated good communication skills, systems thinking, a commitment to students and equity, and has maintained a positive reputation among staff.

An 18-month search would be disruptive and costly — which means an internal candidate is a plus, they said.

“If we were starting from scratch, a search would make sense, but we have someone who has worked so hard, knows our system well, and is doing a good job,” community members wrote. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

Thompson stepped into the position in early 2024 and was officially certified in April after former superintendent Peter Bang-Knudsen resigned due to medical issues. She championed transparency while weathering a budget crisis and received glowing performance reviews.

However, it came as a surprise that the district has only just begun discussing the superintendent hiring process, BIEA leadership said. Last year, the board stated that there wasn’t enough time to conduct a thorough search, “yet here we are, just six weeks earlier than last school year when it was deemed to be too late to begin a search, with no meaningful progress toward starting this process,” wrote BIEA.

“We urge the board to clarify why the search was not initiated sooner. We recommend that the board extends Amii Thompson’s interim role for another year, begins the nationwide search within the next two months, and lands on a permanent solution within the next 18 months.”