POULSBO — Dr. Gene Medina’s decision to make his retirement official Thursday night at the North Kitsap School District board meeting has rattled the North Kitsap community.
While some were surprised about the longtime NKSD superintendent’s plans to retire, others weren’t as shellshocked when they received the news. Medina will end his nine-year tenure with the district at the conclusion of 2007-08 school year.
Vikings head football coach Steve Frease said Medina always seemed to keep the children of North Kitsap in mind while making decisions.
“Gene is a visionary and has tremendous energy to the point that he may have endeavored in more than he should have,” he said. “But at the same time he was doing everything he could to improve our district. Gene had a great capacity to see the district take forward steps. The guy cares about people. In leadership that’s really important.”
Frease said he wasn’t taken aback when he heard the news about Medina’s decision.
“Typically superintendents don’t stay around that long. I wasn’t surprised,” he said. “I thought he stayed the course and did pretty well since he’s been here.”
Kitsap Public Facilities District chair and Poulsbo City Councilwoman-elect Linda Berry-Maraist was taken off guard by the announcement, but agreed that Medina had done well.
“I know there’s generally a fair amount of turnover with superintendent’s positions, but I was surprised to find out he was retiring,” she said. “Gene’s served the district long and well and has led the schools through a lot of transition. He’s created a vast amount of community partnerships that work together for kids.”
Berry-Maraist said Medina’s efforts helped build numerous bridges over the past nine years.
“He’s done a good job of leading the discussions regarding community partnerships,” she said. “He realized and stressed educating our children isn’t just about schools in the daytime and parents at home. He realized the whole community needs to come together for our children.”
Kingston Middle School band director Jeff Haag said Medina was a face seen consistently throughout the community ever since he arrived in the North End.
“Gene marched with our band at Viking Fest two years ago,” he said. “He would always be there for our kids. He was highly visible.”
Haag said Medina backed the Cavaliers in all of their musical endeavors.
“Gene was very supportive of our program. He always gave the music programs an opportunity to do things whether it be field trips or trips out of state, he would provide us a way to do it,” he said. “He’s proud of what our music program has done over the years.”
Medina’s tenure has seen its share of change as well, Haag said.
“Gene provided a vision during a critical time,” he said. “There were a lot of drastic changes that took place while he was superintendent. He was captain of the ship during a turbulent and exciting time of change. Sometimes he had to make decisions on unpopular critical issues. I give him great credit for that.”
Through it all, Haag said he is glad he had the opportunity to work with Medina.
“It’s been great getting to know him,” he said. “I always felt supported by him and his staff.”