Springfield chooses well.

Byline: The Register-Guard

Choosing a new school superintendent is often a roll of the dice. Many factors go into a school board's decision: the educational background and work experience of the candidate; his or her ability to communicate with the board, teachers, administrators and the community at large; the candidate's philosophy of education and enthusiasm for working with children; an ability to make tough decisions and a keen understanding of the arcana of school finance.

In choosing Nancy Golden as its new superintendent, the Springfield School Board rolled the dice and came up with a winning seven.

Golden is a winner. Currently head of the University of Oregon's licensing program for would-be school administrators, she holds a bachelor's degree in education from the University of Denver, a master's in special education from the UO, and a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction from the UO.

She began her career as a special education teacher in the Springfield district (Douglas Gardens Elementary), then became the district's personnel assistant. She signed on with the Eugene School District as a curriculum and staff development coordinator, then became the district's director of education support services. She also spent four years as deputy superintendent of the Albany School District.

The board chose Golden over one other finalist, interim Superintendent Steve Barrett, who had earned high marks for guiding the district through the rocky shoals of the forced ouster of the district's previous superintendent, Jamon Kent, who held the post for eight years. The school board forced Kent to resign last August after a majority concluded Kent's communication and management style was too autocratic. There was also unhappiness over his 2001 transfer - later rescinded - of several popular elementary school principals. Healing the rifts that developed between Kent's supporters and detractors will, by necessity, be a top order of business for Golden.

Happily, Barrett has agreed to remain with the Springfield district as Golden's deputy superintendent. Either would have made a good choice for superintendent, but having them both in top positions is a genuine gain for the district.

Barrett might have been safely presumed to have the inside track for the top post. He's a familiar and well-liked administrator in the Springfield district, and he performed capably as interim superintendent during a challenging period. Few would have been surprised, and fewer still would have complained, if the board had played it safe and offered him the job.

But part of the reason the board went through the trauma of forcing Kent to resign was that many in the district felt the Springfield school system needed a change of leadership. Golden will bring that change in ways that only an outsider can. In this case, the risks of hiring an outsider are negated by Golden's familiarity with the district.

Golden brings to her new job a reputation for caring about students, working well with other people and being a strong leader. Those are qualities that will be sorely tested as the Springfield district, like most others throughout Oregon, struggles with sagging state support and financial cutbacks at every level. She will need all of her many and impressive skills in the months ahead.

The Springfield School District also deserves to be congratulated for the openness of its search process for a new superintendent. It was a process that worked and kept people informed along the way - a far cry from the unnecessary secrecy that surrounded Eugene's selection of a new city manager.