By BECKY THOMAS
Staff Reporter
Sean Dotson will be the next associate superintendent of the Cheney School District.
The district announced in a May 9 news release that it would hire the current Sunset Elementary School principal to replace incoming Superintendent Deb Clemens, and called Dotson “the top candidate for this key central office position based on his wealth of skills and interpersonal relationships.”
Dotson, a Cheney native and 1991 graduate of Cheney High School, said he was sad to leave Sunset but excited about the opportunity. The move will be his first time working outside a school building.
“Every level, elementary, middle and high school and administration, I think it's just a chance to support kids in another way,” he said.
Dotson has worked as the principal at Sunset since 2007. Nearly three quarters of the students at Sunset qualify for free or reduced price lunch based on their poverty level, and Sunset had struggled with low test scores for years. Scores improved, and the school received several awards and grants in the time Dotson was principal there.
Dotson earned a bachelor's and a master's degree in education from Eastern Washington University and is currently working toward his superintendent credential at Washington State University. He started his career as a teacher at Olympic High School in Silverdale, Wash. and at East Valley High School in Spokane. Later, he worked as an assistant principal at Elma Middle School from 2001-2004 and then at Ferris High School from 2004-2007, after which he took the job at Sunset.
Dotson lives with his wife and three children in Cheney.
Recent administrative hires in the Cheney School District have allowed current district employees to move up, starting with associate superintendent Clemens' hiring as superintendent. Then assistant CHS principal Troy Heuett was hired as principal at the school and now Dotson moves into the associate superintendent role.
While district leaders have applauded the internal hires as a way to reward the good work of current employees, they also cause something of a perpetual hiring process in the district. Dotson said he hopes to be involved in hiring his replacement at Sunset.
“I want to make sure we get the right person in there,” he said.
Becky Thomas can be reached at [email protected].
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