The Highline School Board has named Ivan Duran as Highline Public Schools’ next superintendent, following a community engagement process that ended with a week of in-person tours, stakeholder meetings and virtual town halls.

After spending three hours discussing the finalists privately in executive session, the board emerged just after 7:30 p.m. Friday (Feb. 18, 2022) and voted unanimously (5-0) to enter into contract negotiations with Duran, and to give board president Aaron Garcia and vice president Joe Van authority to negotiate that contract on behalf of the school board.

Duran will replace outgoing superintendent Susan Enfield, who leaves at the end of this school year. Pending contract negotiations, he will begin his term on July 1, 2022.

The school board and Duran will begin contract negotiations immediately. The school board aims to bring the contract back for board approval at a board meeting in March.

“I’m so thankful for the Highline community for giving us the space and knowledge to help get to this place,” Garcia said just prior to calling for a roll call vote.

“Dr. Duran is a proud product of public education,” the board said in a statement. “An early passion for reading and learning sparked his interest in being an educator. He has served more than 30 years in public education and is currently chief of acceleration and recovery for the Renton School District.”

From 2017 to 2021, Duran was superintendent of the Bellevue School District.

“Dr. Duran’s background and experience reflect the characteristics and qualifications the Highline community told us they want in their next leader. I’m looking forward to working with Dr. Duran on the next phase of the hiring process,” said school board President Aaron Garcia. “I am grateful to the Highline community for engaging in the search process and providing feedback to the School Board.”

“I am honored, humbled, and thrilled for the opportunity to serve the students, families, educators, and staff of Highline Public Schools,” Duran said. “I want to thank the school board and everyone who participated in the search and selection process. This is a wonderful education community and I cannot wait to get started on the critical work of supporting all our students to graduate prepared for the future they choose.”

Duran’s core values include a commitment to educational equity, continuous improvement and collaborative, transparent leadership. As superintendent in Bellevue, Duran led with a focus on racial equity and inclusion, creating integrated systems to support academic, social-emotional and behavior development for all students. Guided by a clear vision, mission, value system, strategic plan and student experiences, he helped refine the district’s strategies to make a positive difference in each student’s life.

Prior to Bellevue, he was deputy superintendent of the Dallas Independent School District and assistant superintendent for elementary education at Denver Public Schools. He has also served as a classroom teacher, principal and director of instructional technology.

Duran holds a doctorate of education in Education Leadership and Policy from the University of Denver and a masters in curriculum and instruction from the University of Colorado.

Duran and his wife, Kelly Kovacic Duran, share a passion for leading equity in education, raising two bilingual boys (Mateo and Joaquín), and exploring the great outdoors.

Watch a recording of Duran’s town hall event from earlier this week:

Read more about Duran and next steps here: https://bit.ly/3Bw03uW

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