The New Westminster school district’s senior administrative team has a new leader.
The board of education has hired Beverley J. Rundell as interim superintendent while the district continues its search for a permanent replacement for former superintendent Pat Duncan, who retired Dec. 31.
Rundell previously served as superintendent and CEO of the Vernon school district for four years. She has more than 35 years’ experience and has worked in several districts.
“Having someone who’s been in the shoes before and has the credibility with stakeholder groups and a great track record is really important for us,” board of education chair Mark Gifford told the Record.
Rundell was among a number of candidates who presented themselves as options for interim superintendent during the fall, he added.
The decision to hire an interim person rather than a permanent replacement at this time was made to give the district more time to conduct a proper search and to provide stability to the district during the budgeting process, Gifford said.
“It’s a small administrative team and we still need to support that team in some ways and the decision was to, at this point, bring in someone who’s been in the role, understands where we are both in terms of budget planning but also experience around major capital projects and can just sort of see us through this transition period in a calm and seasoned way,” he said.
Rundell will be with the district until a permanent superintendent is hired, which is expected to happen sometime in the next few months, according to Gifford.
“If it so happens that we’re able to identify and hire a permanent superintendent, it is 30 days’ notice. So if that process moves quickly, and someone was able to start immediately, we could move to do that quickly,” he said.
The school board has hired PFM Executive Search to conduct the Canada-wide search.
