Cove narrows school chief search

The Cove School District has narrowed its list of candidates for its superintendent position to three educators.

The public will have a chance to meet all three finalists today when they will be in Cove to be interviewed by the school board and meet with the school district’s staff.

The finalists are: 

• Mat Miles, the principal at Cove High School.

• Mick Lane, superintendent of the Langlois School District in Port Orford on the southern Oregon coast.

• Bruce Neil, a principal in the Milton-Freewater School District.

Neil will meet with the community at 4:45 p.m., Lane at 5:30 p.m. and Miles at 6:15 p.m. The community meetings will be in the Cove High School gym. The candidates’ interviews with the school board will be in executive sessions, which are closed to the public.

The school board is searching for a successor for Jeff Clark, who announced in March that he will step down in June 30 to take a position as superintendent of the Amity School District in Yamhill County. Clark is completing his ninth year as Cove superintendent.

Here’s a look at the three finalists:

Mat Miles

Miles has been principal of Cove High School since last summer. He came to Cove from the La Grande School District, where he had been an administrator for 11 years. 

During his tenure in La Grande, the positions Miles had included assistant principal of La Grande Middle School, assistant principal at La Grande High School and special education director.

Miles grew up in Baker City and is a graduate of EOU. He taught middle school and high school early in his education career.

The Cove principal earlier was a member of the Oregon National Guard and served in Iraq for 12 months in 2004-05 as a member of the 3rd Battalion, 116th Calvary.

Mick Lane

Lane is completing at least his second year as superintendent of the Langlois School District in Port Orford on the southern Oregon coast. The school district has 243 students. Lane previously was a school principal in the Langlois School District.

Earlier in his eduction career, Lane was an administrator in the Baker School District for five years. He was principal of Brooklyn Elementary School from 1996 to 1999 and was an assistant principal at Baker High School from 1994 to 1996.

Lane has a bachelor’s degree from Western Oregon University in Monmouth and a master’s degree in education from EOU.

Bruce Neil

Neil is the principal of Central Middle School, which serves students in grades six to eight, in the Milton-Freewater School District. Neil has been with the Milton-Freewater School District since 2005. He earlier taught social studies at Pilot Rock High School from 1998 through 2005. 

Neil grew up in Enterprise and has degrees from EOU and Eastern Washington University. He served as a student teacher in the Cove School District about 14 years ago.

Neil, Lane and Miles are among the 16 educators who applied for the Cove superintendent position. A screening committee narrowed the list to seven on May 3. These seven candidates were later interviewed by the school board via telephone or via the Internet through Skype, said Meg Moore, chairwoman of the Cove School Board. 

Moore said the board hopes to have a new superintendent hired by mid June.