Decision a big step for district

We are a giant step closer to having a new school superintendent. Now it's just a question of whether Washoe County Chief Educational Officer Lisa Noonan will have us.

School board trustees voted Monday to offer Noonan the job in a show of unity that we haven't seen from the board in quite a while.

Noonan was a great candidate who brought together the board members who were seeking a superintendent with more urban experience, while satisfying those who felt someone with a rural background would be a better fit.

It didn't hurt that she actually worked for the Douglas County School District in the early 1990s, when she was vice principal at Jacks Valley Elementary.

It also doesn't hurt that she has experience dealing with some of the issues that come with the geographical division in Douglas County between Lake and Valley.

A decision on a superintendent was just part of what was appearing on trustees' plate this week.

With the fate of the county's only charter school to be decided tonight and a debate over the secondary English curriculum heating up, it's good that at least this one thing won't be haunting the district.

Unfortunately, picking a superintendent may be the easy part.

We believe trustees recognize that Douglas County wants someone who will keep the job for the long haul. The process is too expensive and the cost to the district too great to do this every three or four years.