Oak Harbor school board selects superintendent

— Created March 9, 2022 by Kathy Reed

By Kathy Reed

Michelle Kuss-Cybula has been selected as the next superintendent of Oak Harbor Public Schools.

Following interviews with the three final candidates for the position last week, the district’s school board made its decision Friday. Negotiations with the board on a final contract will now get underway and Kuss-Cybula is expected to begin her duties as superintendent July 1.

“We are excited to welcome Michelle to our community,” John Diamond, board president, said in a statement released by the district last Friday. “The board was incredibly impressed with her 30 years of educational leadership and her vast knowledge of our district. This was one of the most difficult decisions because of how deep our applicant pool was, and we feel strongly we have selected the best candidate to lead Oak Harbor Public Schools.”

“It’s a tremendous honor to be selected as the next superintendent of Oak Harbor Public Schools,” Kuss-Cybula said in the same district statement. “I’m excited to help carry the baton of the incredible work being done every day in our classrooms by our students and staff. Oak Harbor is an amazing place, and my husband and I are excited to call it home.”

Kuss-Cybula is currently the superintendent of the Cle Elum-Roslyn School District, but she has an extensive background in school administration. She was the principal of Sehome High School  and Fairhaven Middle School in Bellingham, principal of Cascade Middle School in Sedro-Woolley and assistant principal of Sedro-Woolley High School and West Salem High School in Salem, Ore. She was also the director of teaching and learning for Bellingham Public Schools. She and her husband have two grown daughters.

She was one of three finalists for the position, who included Dwight Lundstrom, assistant superintendent of Oak Harbor Public Schools and Dr. Kimberlee Armstrong, associate superintendent of Santa Rosa City Schools in California. Each of the candidates spent a full day at the district last week, which included a virtual public forum.

OHPS interim superintendent, Karst Brandsma, will continue in his position through June 30. More information is available at ohsd.net.