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George Murdock
The Douglas Education Service District has voted to extend the new superintendent's contract through 2012.
George Murdock was hired in May on a one-year temporary basis after the board conducted an unsuccessful search to replace retiring ESD Superintendent Jon Hill. The ESD opted on Oct. 15 to extend Murdock's contract.
His contract base salary was $109,000. The board approved a 2.4 percent increase for all administration staff for this year, which affects 13 people. The new contract was not available from the business office this morning.
Board chairman Hank Perry said the board began discussing contract extension less than four months into Murdock's service in Douglas County because it needed to decide whether or not to open up the arduous search process again soon.
“It's a long, tedious process and sometimes you think you're there and you're not,” he said Thursday afternoon. “I'm glad we have a couple years before we have to worry about that again.”
Perry said the board has been pleased with the direction in which Murdock is leading the district, which serves 13 of the 14 Douglas County school districts with services such as providing Internet, professional development and special education. The ESD employs about 170 people.
“We wanted him to be able to unify the 13 districts in Douglas County, because they had lost confidence (in the ESD), unfortunately,” he said. Perry added the board had asked Murdock to work on building better channels of communications with other districts and raising ESD staff morale after huge cuts last spring.
The superintendent said it's his intention to treat every district, despite location, as if it's “right across the street.” He's been making the rounds visiting each district and reacquainting himself with several local superintendents with whom he worked previously in Eastern Oregon.
Days Creek Superintendent Laurie Newton said she's enjoyed how accessible the new ESD superintendent has made himself.
“George comes from a broader experience ... he's done small districts, he's done large districts — he knows where we're all coming from,” she said.
Murdock, 67, came to Roseburg with 42 years experience in education, which included nine years as superintendent of the Umatilla-Morrow ESD.
He retired in 2007, but quickly took up the reins as editor for the East Oregonian newspaper until last spring, when the budget crunch affected that newspaper and collapsed all management positions into one.
As the veteran educator and newspaper man explained Thursday, he wasn't ready to stop working, so the board's request for his application and subsequent hiring came at a good time.
“I had no intention of (retiring),” Murdock said.
In addition to repairing communication with school districts, Murdock has the task of integrating 70 new employees from Medford because the local ESD absorbed a program for early childhood education that now serves several Southern Oregon counties.
Murdock said he's also trying to develop a two-year budget to ensure school districts stability and that services the ESD offers this year won't be slashed next year. His staff is also trying to increase professional development and general education services to shore up deficiencies districts are experiencing as their budgets continue to decline.
“We're all feeling the budget crunch,” he said. “There are finite resources coming into counties for education, some come to school districts, some to ESDs, we can't be territorial about that, we've got to figure out how to use that (money) to best educate the children.”
• You can reach reporter DD Bixby at 957-4211 or by e-mail at dbixby@nrtoday.com.
George Murdock was hired in May on a one-year temporary basis after the board conducted an unsuccessful search to replace retiring ESD Superintendent Jon Hill. The ESD opted on Oct. 15 to extend Murdock's contract.
His contract base salary was $109,000. The board approved a 2.4 percent increase for all administration staff for this year, which affects 13 people. The new contract was not available from the business office this morning.
Board chairman Hank Perry said the board began discussing contract extension less than four months into Murdock's service in Douglas County because it needed to decide whether or not to open up the arduous search process again soon.
“It's a long, tedious process and sometimes you think you're there and you're not,” he said Thursday afternoon. “I'm glad we have a couple years before we have to worry about that again.”
Perry said the board has been pleased with the direction in which Murdock is leading the district, which serves 13 of the 14 Douglas County school districts with services such as providing Internet, professional development and special education. The ESD employs about 170 people.
“We wanted him to be able to unify the 13 districts in Douglas County, because they had lost confidence (in the ESD), unfortunately,” he said. Perry added the board had asked Murdock to work on building better channels of communications with other districts and raising ESD staff morale after huge cuts last spring.
The superintendent said it's his intention to treat every district, despite location, as if it's “right across the street.” He's been making the rounds visiting each district and reacquainting himself with several local superintendents with whom he worked previously in Eastern Oregon.
Days Creek Superintendent Laurie Newton said she's enjoyed how accessible the new ESD superintendent has made himself.
“George comes from a broader experience ... he's done small districts, he's done large districts — he knows where we're all coming from,” she said.
Murdock, 67, came to Roseburg with 42 years experience in education, which included nine years as superintendent of the Umatilla-Morrow ESD.
He retired in 2007, but quickly took up the reins as editor for the East Oregonian newspaper until last spring, when the budget crunch affected that newspaper and collapsed all management positions into one.
As the veteran educator and newspaper man explained Thursday, he wasn't ready to stop working, so the board's request for his application and subsequent hiring came at a good time.
“I had no intention of (retiring),” Murdock said.
In addition to repairing communication with school districts, Murdock has the task of integrating 70 new employees from Medford because the local ESD absorbed a program for early childhood education that now serves several Southern Oregon counties.
Murdock said he's also trying to develop a two-year budget to ensure school districts stability and that services the ESD offers this year won't be slashed next year. His staff is also trying to increase professional development and general education services to shore up deficiencies districts are experiencing as their budgets continue to decline.
“We're all feeling the budget crunch,” he said. “There are finite resources coming into counties for education, some come to school districts, some to ESDs, we can't be territorial about that, we've got to figure out how to use that (money) to best educate the children.”
• You can reach reporter DD Bixby at 957-4211 or by e-mail at dbixby@nrtoday.com.
