The Wrangell school board held a special meeting Wednesday, April 16 to discuss a potential hire.

The board approved offering a contract to Patrick Mayer of Delta, Alaska, for the position of superintendent of schools for the 2014 – 2015 school year.

That was after its first hire, Jay Thomas, requested to be let out of his contract.

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Before the vote, board chair Susan Eagle said Mayer has already been offered the position.

“I would like to say that we have come to a contract agreement with Patrick and we will be getting that finalized and signed within the next couple of days,” said Eagle.

The process of hiring a superintendent to replace Rich Rhodes at the end of this school year has been fraught with challenges.

The board announced two final candidates at their March 17th meeting. They were Jay Thomas of Unalakleet and Patrick Mayer of the Delta Greely School District.

One week later, the board offered the position to Thomas. Thomas had also applied for the same position in Petersburg. He withdrew that application and accepted the job in Wrangell.

That agreement didn’t last very long. After accepting, Thomas requested to be let go. The board rescinded Thomas’s contract.

Eagle says she can’t provide much information on why the hire fell through.

“No, I’m sorry, I can’t. It was just a personal issue,” says Eagle.

So, the board decided to make an offer to the other finalist, Patrick Mayer.

Eagle says the board has been in close contact with Mayer and he has accepted the position.

“He has accepted. We will need to finalize the contract as far as adding just in the numbers and then have his signature on it. But yes, he has accepted the terms we have agreed upon,” says Eagle.

The next step for the board is ironing out the details. It will formalize the contract at its next meeting.

“We will finalize the contract tonight and we will approve it at the board meeting on Monday night. And then, from that point on, Mr. Mayer will be here starting July 1,” says Eagle.

Mayer is currently the principal of Delta High School, in the Delta Greely school district.

He’s also worked as the principal of Delta Cyber School and Fort Greely Elementary School.

Additionally, he’s been a principal in California and has served as an administrator in the Mat-Su school district in Southcentral Alaska.

He attended the University of Alaska, Anchorage as an undergraduate and has a Masters of Education from Eastern Washington University.