Mat-Su school district leader on ASD superintendent short list

WASILLA — Mat-Su Borough School District superintendent Dr. Deena Paramo is one of two finalists to become the next head of the state’s largest school district.

The Anchorage School District announced on Friday that Paramo and Dr. Steve Atwater, the interim dean of the UAF School of Education, are in the running to replace Ed Graff as superintendent. Graff, who was named to the position in 2013, did not receive a contract renewal from the Anchorage School Board.

School board president Kameron Perez-Verdia said Paramo and Awater were the top two candidates out of 80 who applied to lead the nation’s 97^th largest district.

“We are excited about the quality of applications we received for the next leader of our district,” Perez-Verdia said in a press release.

The release said Paramo and Atwater will attend a community “meet and greet” at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 27 at Bartlett High. Both candidates will have 45 minutes to speak and answer questions from the audience. A video of the event will be posted to the district’s website.

Paramo has served as superintendent of the Mat-Su Borough School District since July, 2011. Prior to that, she worked as the district’s assistant superintendent of education from 2007 to 2010. Paramo has spent most of her career in the Mat-Su. She taught in Glennallen and Palmer before moving into administration in 1996, serving as assistant principal at Colony and Teeland middle schools and principal at Cottonwood Creek Elementary before taking the assistant superintendent position.

She holds a bachelor’s in education decree from Texas State University, a master’s in public school administration from UAA, a doctorate of education in learning assessment and system performance from the University of Oregon and a national superintendent certification from the American Association of School Administrators.

Atwater was a teacher in rural Alaska for much of his early education career, working in Emmonak and King Salmon before becoming curriculum coordinator for the Lake and Peninsula School District in 1997. In 2001, he became superintendent of the district, serving in that role until 2008. Atwater spent one year as assistant superintendent for instruction for the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District before his promotion to superintendent, a job he held until 2014, when he moved to UAF.

Atwater holds a bachelor’s degree in geology from the University of Pennsylvania, a master’s in education from UAF and a Ph.D in educational leadership from UAF.

For more information about the Anchorage School District’s superintendent search, visit asdk12.org.