PJ Ford-Slack has been at Sitka High for 4 years. (SHS photo)
PJ Ford-Slack met briefly with district superintendent Steve Bradshaw and his successor, Mary Wegner, before Monday night’s school board meeting and indicated that she would not sign her contract for next year.
Tuesday morning it became official.
Ford-Slack is known to everyone as “Dr. PJ.” Mary Wegner says she will be missed.
“Dr. PJ has been a champion for students in the four years that she’s been here. And we are sorry to see that she’s turned in her resignation today, effective at the end of her contract, which is ten days after students leave. And she will — I believe — stay in Sitka, and we hope to have her continue to be involved in our programs as we can, just not as the principal of the high school.”
Wegner didn’t know what role Ford-Slack would serve in the district in the future — only that she would be welcome when available. Ford-Slack is helping manage a medical crisis in her immediate family.
Ford-Slack’s departure is creating a third vacancy in the district’s administrative team. A search is currently underway for assistant principals at Blatchley and Sitka High. Wegner says this is a good foundation for recruiting a new principal at the high school.
“Sitka’s an amazing place and we do really good things, and I think we’ll draw good candidates. And we’ve definitely appreciated the contributions that Dr. PJ has made over the time that she’s been with us, and she’s leaving the high school in a good position to move forward.”
Prior to her taking the job of principal at Sitka High, PJ Ford-Slack was a superintendent in Delta.
