Camas High School starts search for new principal

Camas High School is seeking a new principal for the third time in five years.

The Camas School District posted the job announcement on June 21, and will take applications through July 5.

Doreen McKercher, the district’s communications director, said district leaders hope to conduct interviews with top candidates on July 12, and could announce the new principal as soon as July 13.

McKercher said Camas High Principal Tom Morris has decided to move back into his former associate principal role.

Morris moved into the role of interim principal in February 2020, after principal Liza Sejkora — hired as Camas High’s principal in 2017 — resigned following a national backlash over her Facebook post disparaging basketball superstar Kobe Bryant just a few hours after a helicopter crash claimed the life of Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, and seven others.

District leaders named Morris — who had been with the district for 25 years at that point and was a longtime Camas High associate principal — the official principal of the high school in the spring of 2020.

The district’s advertisement for a new principal of the 2,000-student high school shows a salary range of $161,992 to $172,372. According to the district’s job advertisement, the new Camas High principal will:

• “Have proven leadership, supervisory and organizational skills to promote an optimal learning environment;
• Focus on the whole student — both their academic and social-emotional needs;
• Focus on equity, ensuring each student is seen and served;
• Grow, lead and support a positive and productive culture for all staff, students and all who visit the school;
• Engage the entire Camas High School community (and) encourage and foster opportunities for parents and others to participate in the school;
• Support staff members’ continuous professional growth via a cycle of inquiry;
• Know all the kids: Be present, visible and accessible;
• Ensure school-wide safety; and
• Close the achievement gap for all students through an equity lens.”