KINGSTON — Port of Kingston Executive Director Kori Henry is leaving the port district to become public records officer and executive assistant to the superintendent of the North Kitsap School District.

Henry’s last day in Kingston is Oct. 9.

“It’s a little bit of a change,” Henry said of her career move. As port director, she manages a $1 million budget and a staff of nine. In her new job, she’ll assist Superintendent Patty Page and manage public-record requests submitted to the district.

“It will be different, but the school district is another public agency so my port experience will help me in my new position,” she said.

Henry joined the Port of Poulsbo in 1999 as commission secretary and executive assistant and, beginning in 2004, concomitantly worked on a contract basis as the Port of Kingston’s executive assistant to the board. She became Kingston’s full-time, salaried port director on Sept. 1, 2011.

Prior to her port district career, she was a pipefitter helper/boilermakerat Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.

Page added the public records responsibilities to the executive assistant position during a restructuring of staff. Current executive assistant Therese Caldwell becomes executive assistant in the school district’s business and human resources office; Caldwell’s position was created from a vacancy in a supervisor position, Page said.

Henry and Page didn’t know off-hand what Henry’s salary will be; Henry said she knows the range, and Page said it will be similar to the current executive assistant’s salary. According to an online database, Caldwell was paid $52,755 in 2011-12.

Page said the number of public records requests the school district receives is “hit and miss,” but that when received a request can be labor- and time-intensive. Having an employee designated to handle public records requests will help ensure responses are made within the allotted time.

Kingston Port Commissioner Pete DeBoer praised Henry’s ability to juggle several tasks at once — managing the SoundRunner passenger ferry service in its waning days, ensuring the port’s parks are “magnificent places for people to enjoy,” managing the dredging project, working with civil engineers to determine the integrity of the port’s covered moorage.

“There’s always a project going on and she’s on top of all that stuff,” he said. “She’s been a great asset for the port, and I know that sometimes it’s difficult to work for a three-commissioner board.”

That’s what Henry said she’ll miss most about her port job — the staff, project management, and working with contractors.

DeBoer said the port commission’s next regularly scheduled meeting is Oct. 9, Henry’s last day. He said there may be a special meeting Monday or Tuesday to set the course for hiring Henry’s successor.

“It’s a public job. There are some hoops you have to go through,” he said.