Superintendent Steve Rector's time with the Centennial School District was cut short, but a district leader said he set policies that will guide the district for years.
Rector, who took the reins of the district in July 2010 and was diagnosed with cancer in March, died Thursday, the day his resignation was to take effect. He was 56.
The district hired Rector from his position as 11-year superintendent of
South Sioux City Community Schools in Nebraska. Before that, he had been an assistant principal for three years and a high school principal for 12 years.
Before hiring him, Centennial board Chairwoman Shar Giard and two other board members traveled to Nebraska to interview his co-workers and employees. After they arrived, they found people who knew him even before leaving the Omaha airport, she said.
"Every word was very kind about him," she said. "He was hands above any other candidate. We just felt so lucky and honored to have him with us."
On his first day meeting with the district's teaching staff, Giard said, Rector reminded the educators that the students would be the ones giving out medications at the rest home when the teachers retired.
"There was a chuckle, but a lot of nodding," she said. "He was able to put things in perspective."
Giard said Rector's legacy in the Centennial district would be four "non-negotiable goals" the school board passed in February.
The plan set expectations for students at different grade levels -- culminating in each student graduating ready for college or a career -- and Rector outlined a five-year plan for meeting the goals.
That plan will be the board's priority in the coming years, Giard said.
Rector also led the district through the budget cuts last year that eliminated more than 20 teaching positions. This year, the district is cutting the school year by 12 days and cutting another 33 teachers and specialists.
The district hired former Washougal superintendent Teresa Baldwin to lead it for the next school year. The board plans to launch its search for a permanent superintendent in the fall.
Rector is survived by his wife, Jay, and two sons: Nick Rector of Portland and Reggie Rector of Austin, Texas. Services are tentatively planned for the week of July 11 at
Gethsemane Lutheran Church
, 11560 S.E. Market St., Portland.
-- Elliot Njus; phone, 503-294-5034