Nampa School District Superintendent Paula Kellerer submitted a letter of resignation to her board, stating the need for “mutual separation.”
The Nampa School District’s board of trustees scheduled a special meeting for 3 p.m Saturday to accept the resignation and name an interim.
The resignation follows upheaval among trustees. Three new board members — Jeff Kirkman, Brook Taylor and Tracey Pearson — were elected in November. After being sworn into their roles in January, they voted in concert 3-2 to make Kirkman chair and Pearson vice-chair.
The two experienced trustees on the board, outgoing chair Mandy Simpson and Mike Kipp, opposed the new leadership appointments.
Kipp resigned from the board Monday, stating in a letter that he stepped down because he was “weary, tired, and due to the toll this service has taken on my family and me.”
Saturday’s agenda also has an item to possibly take action on the vacancy left by Kipp. The board can appoint a replacement.
Kellerer states in her resignation letter that “sometimes, values and deeply held individual beliefs are too far apart. When that occurs, it creates division and prevents a district from effectively focusing on the important work of student achievement.”
When that happens, she writes, “change needs to occur.”
Kellerer has been the superintendent at Nampa for over four years and was one of Idaho’s highest paid superintendents, making over $155,000 to lead the district. Her history in Nampa runs deep. Her children graduated from Nampa schools. She spent six years as Nampa’s deputy superintendent, from 2004 to 2010. Kellerer spent seven years at Nampa’s Northwest Nazarene University where she was dean of NNU’s College of Adult and Graduate Studies.
Kellerer also is a member of Idaho’s Professional Standards Commission, and she was not present for its two-day meeting Thursday and Friday.
“My prayer and hope for our community is that you as board members value and support this outstanding leadership team and the teachers and staff members that call Nampa home. I wish each of you great success and thank you for your service as educational leaders of our community,” Kellerer wrote in her resignation letter.
Read Kellerer’s letter here.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates and for news from Saturday’s special board meeting.
