“I’m not going anywhere,” Rogozinski told The Astorian, “and I’m going to do what I can to have a great end of the year.”

In his six years as superintendent, Rogozinski said he’s proud of what the district has accomplished, including the construction of a new middle school with the help of a $38.5 million voter-approved bond. The district has also expanded its career and technical education programs and worked toward improved graduation rates — a significant win in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I was pleased with how our district handled the uncertainties of the pandemic,” Rogozinski said. “I think we took every measure we could to have kids in-person learning.”

The position hasn’t come without its challenges, though, including districtwide administrative turnover. Earlier this week, Warrenton Grade School Principal Angie Horton submitted her resignation. Horton will be with the district through the end of the school year. Last month, the school board also dismissed Warrior Academy Principal Mindy Little after investigations into alleged misconduct. Little has denied the allegations.

Although the district has dealt with “higher-profile personnel challenges,” Rogozinski said he hasn’t necessarily seen those challenges as unique to the job. Every district, he said, will have certain challenges trying to meet its needs. Nevertheless, he said his decision was driven partly by concerns that his values and priorities for the district may not align closely enough with those of the current school board.

Rogozinski said superintendent contracts are typically renewed going into the final year of a contract. For him, that would have happened last spring. Rogozinski said he chose not to pursue a contract renewal at that time.

“Over the past year, it became clear that this alignment was not as strong as it should be,” Rogozinski clarified via email. “Leading a district as a superintendent-board team is always challenging, even when the superintendent and board are well-aligned; when they are not, it can become an unproductive use of time and energy. That is why I decided not to seek renewal last year, and this year has served to confirm that decision.”

Rogozinski is paid an annual salary just shy of $150,000. At Wednesday’s meeting, an initial motion to extend his contract failed 5-2. Board members Neal Bond and Dan Jackson voted in favor of the motion. A second motion to table the matter passed by the same margin and breakdown.

Bond said he’s appreciated Rogozinski’s leadership.

“I want to thank Tom for all his dedication and hard work over the years,” Bond said. “We are sorry to see him go, but understand the next steps that he wants to take.”

Moving forward, Bond said the board will be working to determine an entity that will best suit its needs in leading a search process for a new superintendent. That could include working with the Coalition of Oregon School Administrators, the Oregon School Boards Association or another private entity.

“Obviously this is a pretty important position, a lot of responsibilities with that,” Bond said. “So we want to make sure we get the best candidate in there and we want to do that as quickly but as thoroughly as we can.”

Rogozinski said he doesn’t have any immediate next steps for after his contract ends, but he’s keeping his eye on options.

“The demands of the job are many, and the rewards are many as well, so I look at it like I sort of have a confluence of professional and personal interest in making this decision,” Rogozinski said. “I feel I’ve done really good work — not saying it couldn’t continue, but I also think I have some interest in running a new race, if you will… and I’d like to think we’ve left it in a position that somebody could pick it up and take it to the next level.”