Three remain for Cheney Superintendent Job

CHENEY – The Cheney School District’s (CSD) superintendent position has been whittled down to three finalists. Those remaining in the hunt are Sean Dotson, superintendent of the Tumwater School District, Ben Ferney, superintendent of the Valley School District south of Chewelah, and Donald Vanderholm, superintendent of Lind-Ritzville Cooperative Schools.

Each interviewee took questions from the Cheney school board in front of curious community members in the Cheney High School auditorium last week. After a short introduction, the candidates answered one question from each board member and spoke for about 45 minutes in total.

In addition to his superintendent position with the Tumwater School District, Dotson served as the associate superintendent of Cheney Public Schools for five years. He’s been a principal or assistant principal at the elementary, middle and high school levels and taught high school English for five years. Dotson holds an Educational Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Washington State University (WSU) and has a Master of Education in Educational Leadership and a Bachelor of Arts in Secondary English from Eastern Washington University. He attended school in Cheney, and got what he referred to as his dream job and wants to take that to the next level as head of the entire school district.

“After a few years my dream job came along, and that was the chance at being a principal in the Cheney school district,” Dotson told the school board.

Ferney served as assistant principal at Westwood Middle School and Cheney High School before taking his job as superintendent of the Valley School District near Chewelah. He earned an educational leadership doctorate from Gonzaga University, a Master of Arts in curriculum and instruction from Eastern and a bachelor’s degree in science from WSU. He feels Cheney is a place that calls to him.

“Cheney is a special place,” Ferney said. I’m running to Cheney, I’m not running away from anything. I think this is a place I can see being here as a career.”

Vanderholm has been the superintendent of Lind-Ritzville Cooperative Schools since 2018. He is pursuing an educational doctrine from WSU, and has a Masters in education from Eastern and a B.A. from Whitworth University. Vanderholm sees Cheney as a place that is already in a great spot but has room to improve in ways than could make Cheney school district a destination for future parents.

“I always think there’s room for growth, even if we have great programs and great instruction—what else can we do here to make sure were not static and losing ground?” Vanderholm asked rhetorically.

The trio’s final interviews took place this week. A final decision for the position is expected to be made by Friday, April 22.