Superintendent's Cabinet

Interim Superintendent / Assistant Superintendent
Instructional Services and School Support
425-456-4109

Eva Collins is the Assistant Superintendent for Instructional Services and School Support. In her role, Eva works with curriculum, instruction, and student services. This work includes providing instructional leadership and professional development for principals. She has been a parent in the Bellevue School District since 1993. Eva grew up in Everett and graduated from the University of Washington with a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology and education. She began her career in education teaching kindergarten through third grade in the Edmonds School District. Eva participated in the first year of the Danforth Educational Leadership Program at the University of Washington, earning her principal certification and a Masters degree in education administration. She started as a principal at Bennett Elementary in Bellevue in 1992 and later would become principal at Enatai Elementary. Eva served as a K-12 Area Director for eight years, providing leadership and supervision of principals in the south and east zones of the district. She was appointed as Assistant Superintendent of School Administration and Employee Relations. She was appointed to her current role in 2009.

Eva enjoys family traditions and spends most of her free time on a sideline cheering her youngest son, Max. She also enjoys spending time boating on Puget Sound and wandering through little shops in nearby ports

Deputy Superintendent
Financial Services and Operations
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Shawn Lewis is the Deputy Superintendent for Financial Services and Operations. Shawn is responsible for the oversight of budget, accounting, facilities, transportation, food service and other operations activities in the district.

Shawn has over 20 years of administrative experience, is a certified public accountant, and has a Masters degree in Public Administration. His experience includes 10 years in the North Thurston Public Schools as their Chief Financial Officer and Assistant Superintendent of Administrative Services. In addition, he has worked with the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, as their Chief Financial Officer, and worked for the State Auditor’s Office where Shawn represented the State Auditor on a variety of K-12 education committees and task forces.

Shawn is married and has one daughter, who attends Pacific Lutheran University. Shawn is an avid runner and is always in training for his next marathon.

Assistant Superintendent
Human Resources Employee Relations / General Counsel
425-456-4074

Ricardo Cruz is Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources and Employee Relations and also serves as the General Counsel. In this role Ricardo is responsible for all employee-related matters including hiring, evaluation, benefits, performance management, and salary placement. Ricardo also negotiates contracts with labor unions representing District employees and provides legal advice to District management on a variety of employment and operational issues.

Prior to joining the District, Ricardo had over 14 years experience as a human resources director and over 18 years as a practicing attorney. He worked for 6 years in human resources positions with Seattle Public Schools and has worked for other local governmental agencies, including the City of Seattle, King County, and Snohomish County Public Utility District. In addition to a law degree from the University of Washington, Ricardo is a Senior Professional in Human Resources granted by the Human Resources Certification Institute (HRCI). HRCI is an internationally recognized leader in HR certification and has been certifying HR professionals for more than 33 years. Ricardo’s wife is also an attorney and his four children attended public schools in Seattle

Executive Director
Curriculum and Instruction
425-456-4109

Sharon Kautz is the Executive Director of Curriculum and Instruction and School Support. In her curriculum role, she oversees the curriculum for all subject areas and grade levels K-12. Sharon guides the adoption of the instructional materials and works closely with the curriculum department staff to provide our students and teachers with quality curriculum and professional development. In her school support role, Sharon works closely with the principals at Sammamish and Newport High Schools, as well as Tyee, Odle and Tillicum Middle Schools.

Sharon is a proud graduate of the Bellevue School District—attending Bellewood Elementary, Odle Middle School and Sammamish High School.  A love of math and working with students has become a lifelong passion for Sharon. She’s a Husky—graduating from the University of Washington (UW) with a B.A. in Mathematics and starting her teaching career a year later as a math and leadership teacher at Newport High School. Sharon completed her Masters degree in Teaching at Seattle University before returning to the UW to obtain her 
principal certificate. While completing her education, Sharon was an intern for the Dean of Students and Administration at Interlake High School. She became an assistant principal and later principal at Highland Middle School before accepting a principal role at Interlake High School.

Sharon is married and is the highly engaged parent of four active children; one in college at Whitman, two in high school, and a middle school student. She enjoys hiking with her family and has a love of the outdoors

Executive Director
Special Services
425-456-4156

Patty Siegwarth is the Executive Director of Special Education, Guidance/Counseling and School Support. In her role with the Bellevue School District, Patty oversees special education, support staff (nursing, counseling, psychologists, social workers and others) as well as AVID. Prior to her role as Executive Director, Patty was the K-12 East/West Area Director, where she provided oversight to schools in those areas. During this time, Patty also served as the AVID District Director. Before her role with central administration, Patty was a principal at Newport High School where she led a team that showed impressive increases in overall student achievement during her tenure. Patty also served as principal at Tillicum Middle School and assistant principal at Interlake High School. Before joining the Bellevue School District, Patty was an assistant principal at Snohomish High School in the Snohomish School District, and taught special education as well as youth employment in the Renton and Shelton school districts.

Patty earned her BA in Special Education from Central Washington University, her Masters degree from Seattle University and is enrolled in the doctoral program at the University of Washington.

Patty has two grown children, Shannon and Blake, and enjoys spending time with family and friends. In her spare time, she sails the waters of the Puget Sound, in addition to walking and hiking

Executive Director
Student Services
425-456-4055

Judy Buckmaster is responsible for the oversight of Title I, LAP, ELL, Homeless, and Early Childhood Programs as well as Community Engagement. Judy earned her BA in Music at Whitman College and her Masters Degree in Choral Conducting at Central Washington University. With her passion for music and people, Judy joined the Bellevue School District in 1982 teaching at various middle and high schools. After serving as a Supervisor of Choral Music, Judy became a member of the tenth cohort of the Danforth Principal Preparation program at the Center for Educational Leadership at the University of Washington. Following internships at Eastgate Elementary and Highland Middle Schools, Judy was appointed as principal of Eastgate Elementary. With her son entering kindergarten, Judy spent one year in the Riverview School District, but returned to Bellevue when her family moved and at that time was appointed principal of Lake Hills Elementary where she remained for seven years. For the past three years, Judy has been the principal of Tyee Middle School.

Judy loves reading, cooking, baking, gardening and spending time with family and friends. She continues to serve as a volunteer musician and with her family participates in community service projects. Judy is married with two children, a daughter who is entering WWU this fall and a son who is a junior at Bellevue High.

Director
School Support - Elementary
425-456-4108

Cindy provides coaching support for all sixteen Elementary school principals, assisting with instructional leadership, professional development, and problem solving. Cindy grew up in Kirkland and attended Western Washington University, graduating in 1982 with a Bachelor of Arts in Education. She then taught Special Education and Kindergarten in the Northshore School District. During her teaching career, Cindy obtained her Masters degree in Curriculum and Instruction. In 1992, Cindy participated in the Danforth Educational Leadership program at the University of Washington, obtaining her principal credential. She was an elementary principal in Shoreline Public Schools for four years, then in the Edmonds School District for eight years. Additionally, Cindy provided principal coaching in the Edmonds School District and was a Professional Certification facilitator for City University. Cindy has been a Bellevue resident for the past ten years.

Cindy enjoys spending time with her family and friends. Her father, Robert Marum is a retired Superintendent of ESD 121 (now Puget Sound ESD), who has greatly influenced her career and life. Cindy’s husband Mike, is a retired pilot and together they enjoy traveling, boating, cooking and wine tasting. Other interests include attending live music concerts, Pilates classes, and reading good books.

Director
School Support - Secondary
425-456-4160

John Harrison is the Director of School Support for middle and high schools providing coaching support for eleven secondary school principals, assisting with instructional and operational leadership and providing professional development. John has a Bachelor of Arts in Geography from Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, BC and a Masters degree in Secondary Administration from Western Washington University. He started as a high school social studies and physical education teacher in BC school districts in 1984 and has been a high school principal since 1990. Most of John’s career was spent leading high schools the Greater Victoria School District where he led the development and implementation of innovative curriculum and programs and created student-centered learning communities.

John and his family relocated from Victoria to the Puget Sound area in 2005 when he became the principal at Mercer Island High School. John and his wife Yvonne reside in Issaquah and have three children in college and one in high school.

Director
Communication & Community Engagement
425-456-4000

Jacque Coe is the Director of Communications and Community Engagement. Jacque oversees the District’s internal and external communications and community engagement programs to promote open two-way communication with the community. Prior to Bellevue, Jacque served as Communications Director for Washington’s Lottery and was a member of the Lottery’s Executive Management Team. Under her direction, the Lottery simplified its public affairs message, improved communications and relationships with critical stakeholders, and enjoyed a significant rise in levels of positive publicity. Before joining the Lottery, Jacque was the Director of Marketing and Communications for the Alliance for Education, the charitable foundation for the Seattle Public Schools. While at the Alliance, Jacque overhauled the organization’s image and identity to support creation of a successful brand, which helped spur increases in awareness levels and a corresponding rise in donations.

Prior to joining the Alliance for Education, Jacque was a television news journalist for 14 years, most recently at KING-TV in Seattle where she directed and planned daily news coverage, special reports, special projects, and breaking news coverage. Prior to KING-5, Jacque was a news director, anchor, reporter and assignment editor for various television stations in Oregon, Idaho, North Dakota and Spokane. Jacque is a graduate of Eastern Washington University, holding a BA in Communications-Radio/TV News.

Jacque is accredited by the national Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and is a board member of the Puget Sound chapter of PRSA. She is passionate about ethics and journalism issues, and provides pro bono public relations and fundraising expertise to small non-profits. Jacque is married, has a young son Blake, and dabbles in sailing, cooking and photography.