Hyde might stay on as long as two more years.

Even though the Bremerton School District Board of Directors cancelled this week’s study sessions exploring the issue of the district’s search for a full-time superintendent, that doesn’t mean the search is off by any means.

Board President Cynthia Galloway said a contract possibly extending interim Superintendent Bette Hyde’s tenure by up to two years could be presented at the Jan. 8 school board meeting.

“I did speak with Bette Hyde and she said she would be willing to continue and support the Bremerton School District and do what it takes to move the district forward,” Galloway said.

Board member Louis Mitchell asked Hyde at the board’s Dec. 9 study session if she was willing to stay on as the interim superintendent beyond her current contract, which expires in August 2009. That question led to Galloway’s conversation with Hyde about her future plans.

In January, the board will have at least two study sessions to continue its examination of the issues surrounding the superintendent search and how best to proceed, Galloway said.

“We’re doing our due diligence process that we need to do,” she said, noting that at the Dec. 9 study session Hyde was asked to make a presentation to the board at the Dec. 16 study session, which was cancelled.

Additionally, board member DeWayne Boyd has researched successful school districts and their superintendents, and the entire board still needs to review those findings, Galloway said.

“We don’t have to rush this and it (the superintendent’s search) isn’t stopped. We are continuing,” she said.

That might run contrary to the public perception presented by the media coverage about the superintendent’s search, but Galloway said the board itself has not received any comments via e-mail, phone call, letters or other lines of communication about the issue.

“We are fulfilling our roles and we appreciate anybody who contacts us,” she said.

The board encourages the public to attend all its meetings and study sessions because public input will play an instrumental role in the district’s superintendent search, she said.

“At anytime the public can send us a letter or call us and we will bring it back to the board,” she said. “No one has called me.”

Contact information for the school board can be found on the district’s Web site, www.bremertonschools.org.