Michael Clapp / OPB
Three experienced school leaders are competing to take over a troubled Portland-area education agency.
The Multnomah Education Service District helps school districts with health services, special education and other needs. But the MESD gained notoriety last year for its legal battle with an openly gay Oregon Teacher of the Year. Its superintendent and head of Human Resources left last year.
Now the MESD hopes to start fresh with a new superintendent. A national search has turned up three semi-finalists.
Two are already working in Oregon: David Bautista, the former Woodburn superintendent and current head of the state's educational equity unit; and Sam Breyer the superintendent of East Portland's Centennial School District.
The semi-finalist from outside Oregon is Stephen Aguirre. He runs a regional education agency in New Mexico.
All three candidates will have public interviews over the next few days.