After spending the past several weeks scrambling to find a new superintendent, the Coupeville School Board named a replacement for Bill Myhr.

Patty Page, assistant superintendent of the Kelso School District, was named the new superintendent Tuesday night.

Page has been the assistant superintendent of the 5,100-student school district located near the Oregon border.

While she said she enjoyed her job in Kelso, she decided to come to Coupeville because it’s in the Puget Sound area and closer to her mother, who lives in Poulsbo.

In addition, when she researched the school district she felt the school district’s educational philosophy jibed with her own.

“The timing was right and so was the position,” Page said in an interview Wednesday.

She was one of two finalists who interviewed for the position. Page came to town Tuesday and toured the schools, met with staff and was questioned by residents in the multipurpose room that evening.

In addition to Page, Jay Rowell, superintendent of the La Grande School District in Oregon, was publicly interviewed for Myhr’s position. His interview and visit took place Monday.

Eighteen people applied for the position. That group was pared down to six semifinalists. After a round of interviews, that list was reduced to three finalists. One finalist decided to withdraw her name from consideration and the school district went forward with interviewing the other two candidates.

Kathleen Anderson, president of the Coupeville School Board, said Page would be the better fit working with staff.

“We went through the process in a short time and we had two great candidates,” Anderson said. “We just felt that she was a good fit.”

She starts her position July 1. She was hired on the three-year contract and will earn $113,013 a year plus benefits.

The school district started advertising for the position after Myhr announced his resignation in April. He accepted a superintendent position at a school district in Arizona.

School leaders moved fast to find a new superintendent, since Myhr’s resignation came late in the school year and they wanted to get a qualified pool of candidates before they opted for other choices.

Once Page’s evening interview was complete, the school board met in executive session to discuss the finalists’ qualifications. The session began at 8:45 p.m. and didn’t wrap up until 10:30 p.m., when they opened the session to announce their decision to hire Page.

In addition to serving as assistant superintendent in Kelso, she has been a middle school principal in Yakima; a middle school principal in Sunnyside; and assistant principal in Gig Harbor.

Page said she enjoyed her position in Kelso but added it was a good time to move.

“It was hard to look but it feels right,” Page said.