Dr. Charis McGaughy was hired over the summer as the new superintendent for Coos Bay School District, overseeing the daily activities and carrying out the vision of the school district. In the past, she has been a director of a non-profit organization, as well as a teacher. She is now using her 31 years of education experience to shape the future of Coos Bay’s public schools. While she never saw this career for her, she’s excited to be with the district. 

“My passion is making sure that every student achieves whatever their dreams are,” Dr. McGaughy said.

She plans to make our district the best in the state of Oregon. In order to do so, she will be partnering up with the community to set up sessions in which she will hear the opinions of her students and their families. 

Because of her past roles, she is very much aware of the challenges students face both in and out of school. 

Substance abuse, homelessness, child abuse, and poverty are among the issues she looks forward to tackling. 

“If I had a magic wand I would wave it and make it all better for everyone,” said Dr. McGaughy. “But these are deep issues that take a comprehensive approach to address, so these are my biggest challenges. How do we face these deep issues together?” 

Principal Elias Ashton strongly supports Dr. Gaughy, as he too is eager for change. 

“She is very nice and outgoing and is involved and goes to a lot of our events,” Ashton said.

District Board member Kimberly Brick, who had a say in Dr. McGaughy’s installment, agrees with many of her points on equity, diversity and inclusion. She’s also thrilled with Dr. McGaughy’s idea to make Millicoma more wheelchair accessible.

“We got some great things going on but we’ve got some work to do,” Brick said. 

Never fear, Coos Bay school’s Dr. McGaughy is here!