WALLOWA — After months of searching for a new superintendent, the Wallowa School District is back to square one — almost. The school board agreed at its meeting Monday, March 13, not to offer the position to the two finalists it had identified.

What the board will do is enter into contract negotiations with the current Superintendent Tammy Jones for another year in the position.

The board agreed to hold a special session at 5 p.m. March 23 to consider the approval of a new contract with Jones. The meeting will be held in the school’s Beth Johnson Room.

Board Chairman Woody Wolfe said it remains unknown if Jones will consider another year, as she was out sick and unavailable for comment. He said board member Matt Howard planned to approach her about it.

Wolfe said the board moved to offer another year to Jones prior to discussing it with her. If she’s not agreeable to the idea, the board will immediately approach the Oregon School Boards Association about helping find a suitable candidate. If Jones agrees to a contract, the board will get the OSBA to begin the permanent search process in October.

Wallowa’s search process comes on the heels of a successful search for a new superintendent at Enterprise. Rebecca Nordtvedt, a former administrator at Wallowa, will replace interim Superintendent Tom Crane on July 1.

Wolfe said it was public knowledge that “Wallowa and Enterprise had one name in common” among their finalists, although he wasn’t allowed to reveal the names of the candidates who declined the district’s offer.

However, the unsuccessful candidate in Enterprise was Chester Bradshaw, of the Sugar-Salem School District in Eastern Idaho. Wolfe said the candidates who declined Wallowa’s offer did so for unspecified reasons.

Nordtvedt had made it clear during a public session with the community the only job for which she would leave her current post at the Wallowa County Education Service District is the superintendent’s post she was seeking.