The Kodiak Island Borough School District's School Board started with nearly two dozen applicants.
“We have had 21 applications and we will have this meeting on Thursday [Jan. 8]. We hope to identify three finalists at that meeting and then move on from there," KIBSD School Board President Kerry Irons said.
That was last week during the board's Jan. 5 work session. After a special meeting on Thursday, Jan. 8, the board narrowed that list down to Miranda Bacha, Daniel Brigman and Kim Hanisch.
Clayton Vaughn, an Oklahoma-based educator, was named as a fourth finalist during the Jan. 8 special meeting, but Vaughn withdrew his application for personal reasons, according to Irons.
According to a press release from KIBSD, Miranda Bacha is the current academic principal at Mt. Edgecumbe High School, the state-run boarding school in Sitka. It’s had staffing and other issues of late. Still, an Alaska professional organization for secondary school principals recognized her as a regional principal of the year for 2026. She was also previously a math teacher at Kodiak High School.
Daniel Brigman was most recently the superintendent of Avery County Schools in North Carolina, from 2020 to 2024. He abruptly left the position at the end of October, 2024 after agreeing to a $300,000 buyout with the local board of education according to reporting from the Avery Journal Times. The board of education did not give an explanation for the separation with Brigman and said it would not disclose any details because it was a personnel matter.
Brigman has more than two decades of experience as a superintendent, across several states. However, he has no Alaska experience. His employment history features several moves within a short span of time, including a period where he held four different jobs in less than four years.
As for Kim Hanisch, she is currently the superintendent of the Unalaska City School District but announced she would be resigning in June due to personal and professional reasons after two years on the job. She is also a finalist to be Cordova School District’s next superintendent, according to reporting from the Cordova Times. Hanisch was the director of instruction for KIBSD from 2016 to 2019.
Kodiak’s current Superintendent Cyndy Mika announced in October that this school year would be her last on Kodiak Island. She said she’s leaving for personal reasons unrelated to the job.
“I love living here, I love this community and it will always have a deep place in my heart, mine and my son’s," she said.
The KIBSD school board took applications for Mika’s replacement from Nov. 26 through Jan. 2.
The board has invited all three finalists to visit Kodiak later this month, on Jan. 22 & 23, to tour the school district, meet with community members and interview with the board in person. The board plans to make a final decision on Jan. 23. The new superintendent is expected to start working for KIBSD on July 1.
