Tharyn Mulberry sole finalist for Aspen School District superintendent position

As the only applicant for the Aspen School District’s superintendent position, Assistant Superintendent Tharyn Mulberry was named the sole finalist for the role during the school board’s Wednesday meeting.

The board decided in its March 6 meeting that it would seek an internal candidate for a new superintendent after Superintendent Dave Baugh announced Feb. 28 that he would resign from the position at the end of the school year and join the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club as executive director. During that meeting, several community members expressed support for Mulberry as the new superintendent, and board members said they received hundreds of emails unanimously supporting him.

He was one of three finalists in neighboring Roaring Fork School District’s superintendent search but withdrew himself from consideration after Baugh announced his resignation. After the outpouring of support, board members agreed that the district should save time and money by pursuing an internal candidate rather than conducting a national search, like the one that landed Baugh as superintendent in 2020.

The internal job posting was open for two weeks and closed on Tuesday. Only one person applied for the position, Board President Christa Geiszl said.

“I feel like, Tharyn, you have such good support at the school district,” she said during the Wednesday meeting. “Thank you very much for applying.”

The board voted to name Mulberry a finalist for the position. As a finalist, he will participate in a community meet-and-greet at 4:30 p.m. on Monday, April 1. He will make a presentation during the meeting about his priorities as superintendent and answer community members’ questions.

The school board can decide as early as its April 3 board meeting if it wants to appoint him as superintendent of the district. If appointed, he would not assume the role of superintendent until after Baugh’s last day, June 30.

The board also authorized Gieszl and Vice President Stacey Weiss to begin negotiating Mulberry’s contract. The negotiations will happen in the next two weeks.

According to the job posting, which was read during the March 6 meeting, the salary range for the superintendent position is $198,000-225,000. It would also include housing and other benefits.

Mulberry joined the district in 2015 as the principal of Aspen High School. In 2020, he was one of the finalists identified after a national search for superintendent and assumed the role as assistant superintendent under Baugh.

Mulberry’s work with the district and knowledge of the community is what many community members lauded in their support for him during the March 6 meeting. Board members said they had never seen such unanimous support for a candidate.

“There’s been a lot of community input, and I feel like we’ve come to a place where we don’t need to continue that part of the discussion,” Weiss said on Wednesday.