Big Bend Community College trustees approve next president’s contract

MOSES LAKE — Big Bend Community College trustees approved a three-year contract for the college’s next president, Sara Thompson Tweedy, at a special meeting April 17. The vote was 5-0.

Tweedy’s base salary will be $223,500 per year, plus any state-appropriated general wage increases during the 2021-22 fiscal year. The initial contract will run through June 2023, and BBCC trustees have the option to approve an extension at the time of Tweedy’s annual evaluation.

Communications director Matt Killebrew said Tweedy will start her new job Aug. 17. She was scheduled to start July 1, but the school year for her children has been extended to late June, Killebrew said.

Tweedy will replace Terry Leas, BBCC president since 2012. Leas announced his retirement in July 2019, effective at the end of the 2019-20 academic year.

Tweedy will be the college’s first woman president and the 10th president since BBCC opened in 1962.

— Cheryl Schweizer