Following a nationwide search, the Gresham-Barlow School District will promote a deputy superintendent to the position of top administrator.
The school district said Thursday that Tracy Klinger, who has 28 years of experience in the district as an elementary school teacher, principal, and administrator, will take over as superintendent in July.
The announcement stated that Dr. Klinger was chosen as the best candidate to guide our institutions ahead from a prestigious pool of national applicants.
After months of turmoil at Gresham High School, one of the two sizable comprehensive high schools in the eastern Multnomah County school district, Klinger takes over as superintendent.
Erika Beddoe Whitlock, the former principle of Gresham High, resigned in October due to criticism from the community on how she handled the arrest of a student who had carried a loaded gun into the school.
Faculty and students claimed they had received very little information regarding a loaded gun on campus and that they had never been instructed to remain indoors in their classrooms for safety while the student’s disarm was being negotiated.
After the Gresham-Barlow Education Association spent months expressing their concerns to school district officials regarding guns on campus, fights in the hallways, and widespread restroom vaping, there was a commotion that included a student walkout.
With over 11,500 kids enrolled, the Gresham-Barlow School District is one of the biggest school districts in Oregon. Approximately one-third of the district’s students are Latino, and nearly 40% come from low-income homes. In math and English, only 19% and 31% of its K–8 children, respectively, are fulfilling state targets, which is around 10 percentage points behind the state norms.
James Hiu, a former superintendent who made $275,600 a year, retired in December. We do not currently have Klinger’s salary information.
Editor Beth Slovic works on the breaking news and public safety team. You can contact her at [email protected] or 503-221-8551. Julia Silverman, a journalist from Oregon, contributed.
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