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Back in September of 2019, Joseph Hattrick — named this past week as superintendent of Ashland schools — had a puzzle of a far different kind to solve.

Hattrick, months removed from receiving his doctorate at Grand Canyon University (GCU) in Arizona, was the winning contestant on an episode of the iconic game show “Wheel of Fortune.”

He had all of 10 seconds to solve the above final puzzle — which would, according to an online archive of the game show, allow him to increase his earlier winnings of nearly $26,000 and a tour of Central America.

In a GCU newsletter interview, Hattrick compared the stress of the moment to defending his dissertation.

“Solving puzzles under pressure,” he said. “You have to think on your feet while your committee is staring you down.”

Thankfully for the new superintendent, he’ll have far more than 10 seconds to solve the issues facing the Ashland School District — and he’ll have the unanimous support of the School Board to help him do so.

Earlier this month, the district announced that between 13 and 24 classified employees would be laid off as as it seeks to get its budget under control.

The layoffs, which did not include teaching positions, were part of $1.3 million cut from the 2023-24 general fund budget of approximately $40 million. Mostly affected will be educational assistants hired with the help of federal financing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The financial puzzle for the school district has other pieces to fill, mainly due to an estimated $3 million of revenue lost as enrollment has dropped nearly 12% over the past five years.

The nearly 300 fewer students in Ashland are primarily due to the end of the district’s policy of allowing students from outside the city to enroll without permission — but it is also reflective of the situation across Oregon, as new figures from the state Department of Education show a 6% enrollment drop since the pandemic.

Hattrick, in a release made public after his appointment was announced, said he understood the situation he was getting into and looked forward to being part of the answer.

“I am sensitive to the current challenges facing the district and commit to leveraging my past experience addressing the district’s financial realities,” he said, “as we collaborate to improve those conditions while limiting the impact on our students.”

The Ashland School Board said Hattrick’s specialization in school culture and climate — subject of his GCU doctoral dissertation — will help the district navigate the current rough waters.

“(It’s) going to be so important that we can increase the morale among our staff and our teachers, which has an impact on our students, and also raises teacher retention rates,” said Rebecca Dyson, the board’s chair. “… (It) makes this a more open and collegial and successful district.”

As Hattrick prepares to replace the retiring Samuel Bogdanove, some words of advice he gave back in 2019 to those wanting to know how he did on “Wheel of Fortune” seem to apply to his new puzzle-solving opportunity.

“I would just encourage people to watch,” he said, “and they can find out for themselves how I did.”

In other words, you have to wait to see the solution.