Three Decades to the Top: Jill Burnes Takes the Helm in Enumclaw

Fri, 20 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMT

Jill Burnes started teaching elementary school in Bellingham, Washington in 1990. By her own account she felt "an incredible responsibility" and "a keen awareness of the influence or impact that my daily words and actions could have on my students." That awareness, she has written, only deepened over the decades. After nearly 30 years she had "more questions than answers."

Those questions took her from Bellingham to Federal Way^↗, where she taught elementary, instructed at the district's Internet Academy, and moved into leadership as curriculum coordinating teacher and eventually the director of assessment. In 2004 she came to Enumclaw^↗ as assistant principal at the high school and has been in the district ever since, rising through nine years as principal, director of teaching and learning, and deputy superintendent. Along the way she earned a master's in curriculum and instruction from City University, a principal certification, and a superintendent certification from Seattle Pacific University, with professional training at Harvard's Leadership Institute and Stanford's School Redesign Institute. When Superintendent Dr. Shaun Carey resigned suddenly on January 12, 2026, the board did not have to look far. Burnes stepped into the role she had been building toward across three decades and three districts.

She takes the helm of a district that is, by almost every measure, defying the direction of public education in Washington state.

A District Built to Grow

Enumclaw enrolled 4,568 students in 2025-26, its highest total in at least 12 years of state records. The district has grown 10.7% since 2015, adding 443 students while Washington's enrollment has been essentially flat and started declining in 2026. It is one of only about a quarter of the state's districts that fully recovered from COVID-era losses. Enumclaw did more than recover: it added 422 students beyond its pandemic low, a 212% recovery rate.

The Ten Trails master-planned community in neighboring Black Diamond is the primary growth engine, a development projected to build more than 5,000 homes. But Burnes was careful to note that the story is broader than one subdivision. "According to the most recent demographic study of the Enumclaw School District, other growth factors include local birth rates and other residential development," she said. Birth rates within the district "have been increasing steadily over the past ten years," and there are "recent, active and planned residential development projects in Enumclaw" beyond Ten Trails.

Among similarly sized Washington districts, Enumclaw's trajectory stands out. Only neighboring White River^↗ has grown faster (+23.0%), while Bremerton^↗, a military-adjacent urban district, has lost 14.1% of its students over the same period.

The community has changed, too. White students still make up the majority at 69.4%, but that share has dropped 9.4 percentage points since 2015. Hispanic enrollment grew from 14.2% to 18.0%, adding 235 students. Asian enrollment increased nearly eightfold, from 23 students to 183, likely reflecting the demographic profile of families moving to Ten Trails from the Seattle metro area.

The district's Capital Facilities Plan projects enrollment reaching 5,311 by 2030, a 23.4% increase. That is the landscape Burnes is navigating: a district preparing for nearly 750 more students in the next four years.

Stability, Relationships, Trust

Asked about her priorities, Burnes did not talk about test scores or strategic plans. She talked about people.

"My priorities include providing stability, rebuilding relationships, and strengthening trust across our district," she said. "There is important work ahead in the coming months, and I am fully committed to ensuring that our school system is well-positioned to welcome a new superintendent this summer."

The emphasis on stability is not abstract. Carey's departure was abrupt. The board accepted his resignation at a special meeting on January 12 that lasted barely long enough to conduct the vote. Board Director Tara Cochran described it as "a mutual decision to part ways." Board President Tyson Gamblin said the board "appreciates his leadership on several initiatives in the district." Carey, for his part, said he was "grateful for the work we have done to put systemwide structures, including common school schedules, MTSS practices, and progress monitoring, in place throughout the school district."

Eight days later, the board unanimously approved $65 million in contracts to design and build a new elementary school at Ten Trails. That school, planned for 600 students, is slated to open in fall 2027. Black Diamond Elementary is at capacity, and Ten Trails families are currently bused to Westwood Elementary.

The financing behind it is remarkable. After voters rejected three separate funding measures between 2023 and 2025, the district sold 43 acres back to developer Oakpointe for $40 million and secured a $25 million developer loan repaid through housing mitigation fees. The entire project is funded without a taxpayer bond or general fund dollars.

Burnes described the arrangement as the product of years of groundwork. "For more than a decade, the Enumclaw School District has been working in partnership with the City of Black Diamond and Oakpointe to plan for school facilities and projected enrollment growth," she said. That kind of long-range institutional memory, the knowledge of a decade of negotiations and three failed ballots and the community dynamics behind them, is what a career insider brings to the superintendent's chair.

What Comes Next

The board hired Northwest Leadership Associates in late February to find Carey's permanent successor. Community input sessions and online surveys in English and Spanish are underway. Preliminary interviews are scheduled for late April, with finalist interviews in mid-May.

Asked what the district should look for, Burnes offered a clear picture: "a community-focused, visionary leader who listens to all voices, communicates clearly, and brings people together around shared values," she said. "They must be willing to step into challenges, stand firm in their conviction about student learning, public education, and lead with courage and integrity."

Whether the board hires from inside or outside, the next superintendent will step into a district that has added 443 students in a decade, built a $65 million school through a creative public-private partnership, and welcomed a more diverse student body than at any point in its history. Burnes is making sure that transition is steady, the same work she has done at every level she has held in this district.

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White River - EdTribune WA - Washington Education Data

Three Decades to the Top: Jill Burnes Takes the Helm in Enumclaw

A District Built to Grow

Stability, Relationships, Trust

What Comes Next