After months of searching, Idaho’s school districts have found new leaders. Entering the 2021-2022 school year, 23 Idaho districts will have a new superintendent, showcasing an unprecedented amount of turnover over the past two school years.
School districts from all over Idaho saw changes in their leadership, from large districts like West Ada (the biggest in the state) and Oneida to small districts like Cascade and Hansen. Ten school districts decided to hire someone who hasn’t been a superintendent before, three of which (Lewiston, Madison and Vallivue) were promoted from the assistant superintendent position.
Some school districts will be getting veteran leadership, like long-time Vallivue superintendent Pat Charlton moving to Jerome.
Idaho also will be welcoming eight new superintendents from out of state. Montana is sending three new superintendents to Idaho. Other superintendents are coming from Wyoming, North Dakota, Oregon and Minnesota.
Here’s an alphabetical rundown of the state’s new superintendents. (Click here for superintendent salaries.)
Blaine County
Blaine County trustees voted to hire McCall-Donnelly’s Jim Foudy as their next superintendent on Jan. 21. Foudy replaces former superintendent GwenCarol Holmes, who had worked in the district since 2014. Holmes announced her resignation on Nov. 12.
On Jan. 22, Foudy signed his contract for two years at $168,000 per year.
Trustees had 27 applicants for the position.
Bruneau-Grand View
Trustees met on April 26 to selected Todd Shumway as superintendent of Bruneau-Grand View.
Shumway is currently the principal of Cassia High School in the Cassia County School District, a position he’s held since 2017. Before that, Shumway was the principal of Melba Jr/Sr High from 2010 to 2014 and the principal of Prairie High in Cottonwood from 2007 to 2010.
Bruneau-Grand View trustees accepted Ryan Cantrell’s resignation February.
Buhl
Buhl trustees met in a special session on March 4 to select David Carson as the district’s new superintendent. Carson is currently the Hansen School District’s superintendent.
Other finalists included:
- Chris Harris, Superintendent, Yreka Union School District (Yreka, Calif.)
- Chad Krug, Assistant Superintendent, Ulysses Schools District (Ulysses, Kan.)
- Jennie Peterson, Director of Instruction, Kodiak Island Borough School District (Kodiak, Alaska)
On March 15, trustees approved a two-year contract for $110,000 a year for Carson.
Wil Overgaard has been working as interim superintendent, after trustees voted to part ways with Ron Anthony in March 2020. Idaho’s Professional Standards Commission in January of 2020 announced it would reprimand Anthony for producing inaccurate teacher reports.
Butte County
Trustees met on June 8 and selected Joe Steele to be the district’s next superintendent. Steele is the superintendent of St. Regis School District in Montana.
The pool of candidates for Butte County trustees included:
- Steven Miller, teacher, Wyoming Connections Academy (Cody, Wyo.)
- Robert Daniel, principal, Sweetwater Co. School District (Rock Springs, Wyo.)
- Thomas “Allen” Barber, principal, Eagle Point School District (Eagle Point, Ore.)
At the end of the 2020-2021 school year, Superintendent Joel Wilson will be moving to the Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction’s office as the deputy superintendent of operations.
Cascade
The Cascade Board of Trustees met on June 12 and selected Kevin St. John to be the district’s new superintendent.
St. John is the superintendent of Choteau Public Schools in Montana.
Jeff Blaser will be retiring at the end of the 2020-2021 school year and submitted his resignation to the board on April 19. Blaser has been the superintendent of the district since 2018.
Cassia County
Trustees unanimously voted April 28 to name Sandra Miller as this districts’s next superintendent.
Miller is currently Cassia County’s assistant superintendent and curriculum director.
Current superintendent James Shank has accepted the offer to replace longtime Idaho Falls Superintendent George Boland at the end of this school year.
Coeur d’Alene
Coeur d’Alene trustees voted on April 19 to select Shon Hocker as its new superintendent starting in July.
The board hired Hocker on a three-year contract with a salary of $165,000 per year.
Hocker is the superintendent of Dickinson Public Schools in Dickinson, North Dakota, a position he’s held since 2018. He was one of two finalists for the position.
Current Coeur d’Alene Superintendent Steven Cook has accepted a position in the Oregon-based Bend-La Pine School District. He will leave Coeur d’Alene when his contract expires in June.
Garden Valley
Trustees met on June 11 and selected Randy Thompson as the new superintendent. Thompson is coming to Idaho from Georgia, where he was a business education and Spanish teacher at Bleckley County High School.
Thompson was not one of the five candidates that Garden Valley trustees first listed. The candidates for the superintendent position included:
- Mark Winningham, director of schools, Overton County School District (Overton, Tenn.)
- Brandt Shriner, director of special education, Anderson Union High School District (Anderson, Calif.)
- Lester McCormick, principal, Fort Yukon School District (Fort Yukon, Alaska)
- Daniel Lantis, superintendent, Hays Lodgepole School District (Hays, Mont.)
- Thomas “Allen” Barber, principal, Eagle Point School District (Eagle Point, Ore.)
Vickie Chandler submitted her resignation and release from contract to the board on March 9, citing medical reasons. Jackie Johnson served as interim superintendent for the 2020-2021 school year.
Hansen
On April 13, trustees selected Angela Lakey-Campbell as the new superintendent. Lakey-Campbell is currently the superintendent of Oregon-based Imbler School District.
Other finalists for the position included:
- Janet Avery, District Curriculum Director, Jerome School District
- Jonathan Goss, Assistant Head of Schools and 7th-12th Principal, Xavier Charter
- Kayla Kelly, Principal, Hansen Junior/Senior High School
Hansen’s Carson will be the superintendent for Buhl starting in July.
Highland
Trustees named Jacob Gion as this district’s new superintendent on March 8. Gion is currently the vice principal of Montana-based Baker High School.
Gion’s contract with the district comes with an annual salary of $85,000.
Superintendent Sarah Hatfield’s resignation was accepted by the board on Dec. 14, 2020.
Idaho Falls
Trustees in the Idaho Falls School District selected Cassia County Superintendent James Shank to replace outgoing Superintendent George Boland at the end of the school year.
The 5-0 vote follows Minnesota-based superintendent Eric Pingrey’s decision to take a job in McCall, after Idaho Falls trustees voted 3-2 to hire him last week.
Trustees interviewed Shank for a second time on April 8 before spending several hours in executive session.
Boland announced his plan to retire on Dec. 4, after 15 years leading the East Idaho district.
Other finalists for the job included:
- Dr. Matthew Neal, Superintendent, American Creativity Academy, Kuwait (Kuwait City, Kuwait)
- Kelly Coughenour, Assistant Superintendent, Idaho Falls School District (Idaho Falls)
- Dr. Sylvia McNeely, Superintendent, Wanette Public Schools (Wanette, Ok.)
Jerome
Vallivue School District Superintendent Patrick Charlton has accepted the superintendent’s position in Jerome. He was the only finalist for the position.
On April 5, the board agreed on Charlton’s contract with an annual salary of $132,500, the Times-News reported.
Charlton was also a co-finalist for the McCall-Donnelly superintendent position.
Dale Layne announced in February that he’ll step down as superintendent of Jerome at the end of the school year.
Kellogg
On May 3, Kellogg trustees voted to select Lance Pearson as their new superintendent. Pearson is currently the superintendent of Victor Public Schools in Victor, Mont.
Other finalists for the position included:
- Bridgit Arkoosh, principal, Holy Family Catholic School, Coeur d’Alene
- Janet Avery, curriculum director, Jerome School District
- Silvia McNeely, superintendent, Wanette Public Schools (Wanette, Okla.)
Superintendent Nancy Larsen submitted her resignation to the board in January 2021 and finished out the school year.
Lewiston
On March 8, Lance Hansen was named as the new superintendent of Lewiston School District.
Hansen has been assistant superintendent at Lewiston for eight years. Before that, he was a teacher in Moscow and Emmett.
According to the Lewiston Tribune, Hansen’s contract with the district is for three years and comes with an annual salary of $147,000.
Robert Donaldson announced his retirement in February, following eight years as the superintendent and 32 years in the district.
Madison
The Madison School District will say goodbye to a longtime educator at the end of this school year — but leadership will stay in familiar hands.
Trustees accepted Geoffrey Thomas’ letter of resignation during the March 18 board meeting. The board hired Randy Lords as the new superintendent a day after that announcement. Lords has been Madison’s assistant superintendent since 2015 and has been in various roles within the district for 19 years.
Thomas, who filled the position for 20 years, has accepted a position as an assistant professor at Idaho State University’s College of Education.
McCall-Donnelly
Eric Pingrey, of Walker, Minn., will take over as superintendent of the McCall-Donnelly School District at the end of this school year. Pingrey is the superintendent of Walker Hackensack Akeley School District.
Pingrey chose McCall-Donnelly over Idaho Falls, where trustees selected him on a split-decision vote to replace outgoing superintendent George Boland.
Superintendent Foudy will be moving to the superintendent position at Blaine County School District.
Middleton
Middleton trustees voted unanimously early in March to name Marc Gee as the district’s new superintendent.
On April 12, Gee and the board agreed to a two-year contract with an annual salary of $130,000.
Gee is currently the superintendent at Preston School District.
Other finalists included:
- Glen Croft, Principal, Middleton Academy
- Jeff Dillon, Superintendent, Wilder School District
Gee will be the third Middleton superintendent in the past four years. Kristin Beck filled in as interim during the hiring process. She has left the district. She took over for Sherawn Reberry, who resigned in June 2020. Reberry was in her position for just 10 months after she replaced Josh Middleton, who left after a turbulent 2018-2019 school year.
Oneida
Jon Abrams will replace Rich Moore as superintendent of this rural Southeast Idaho district at the end of the school year.
Trustees unanimously selected Abrams — the superintendent of Pine Bluffs, Wyo.-based Laramie County School District — from a pool of three finalists on March 4. Abrams’ contract with the district runs through the 2023 school year and gives him a salary of $125,000.
Moore announced his forthcoming retirement late last year, after five years of helping the district startup what has become Idaho’s largest online school.
Other finalists included:
- Joel Wilson, superintendent of the Butte County School District, in Arco.
- Kevin St. John, superintendent of Philipsburg Public Schools, in Philipsburg, Mont.
Potlatch
On May 11, trustees voted to name Janet Avery as the district’s new superintendent. Avery has been the curriculum director at Jerome School District since 2013. Prior to her current role, she was the principal and assistant principal at Jerome Middle.
Other finalists for the position included:
- Bridgit Arkoosh, principal, Holy Family Catholic School
- Daniel Lantis, superintendent, Hays Lodgepole School District (Hays, Mont.)
- Brandt Shriner, director of special education, Anderson Union High School District (Anderson, Calif.)
- Kevin St. John, superintendent, Choteau School District (Choteau, Mont.)
After a 40-year education career, Superintendent Jeff Cirka announced he’ll retire at the end of the school year. Trustees accepted his resignation on March 2.
Preston
Trustees named Preston elementary coordinator and special education director Lance Harrison as the district’s new superintendent on April 14.
Harrison emerged from a pool of three other finalists selected on April 9:
- Destry Jones, assistant superintendent, board ledger, IT director, ISEE director and co-curriculum director, Firth School District
- Anthony Morrison, principal, Tohatchi Middle School, Tohatchi, N.M.
- Veldon Law, director of academic services and independent study, Brigham Young University
Trustees accepted Superintendent Mark Gee’s resignation during a March 17 meeting. The Middleton district named Gee as the new superintendent in March.
Soda Springs
Trustees unanimously voted to name Scott Muir as the district’s new superintendent during a March 30 meeting. Muir is currently the principal of Cassia County’s Declo Junior High and Albion Elementary.
Other candidates for the job were:
- Destry Jones, Assistant Superintendent, Firth School District
- Jeff Uskoski, teacher and athletic director, Soda Springs School District
- Robert Daniel, Principal, Sweetwater County School District (Wyo.)
- Todd Hale, Superintendent, North Gem School District
On April 1, Muir signed a two-year contract with Soda Springs, with a salary of $92,500 per year.
Trustees accepted the resignation of Molly Stein on Jan. 27.
Vallivue
On March 9, trustees voted unanimously to name Lisa Boyd as the district’s new superintendent. Boyd is currently the district’s assistant superintendent.
She emerged from a pool of three finalists:
West Ada
West Ada trustees unanimously voted to name Derek Bub as the district’s new superintendent earlier this week. Bub currently serves as the principal of Centennial High, where he’s been since 2019.
On May 11, Bub signed a contract with the district for $175,000.
Other finalists for the position included:
- Bret Heller, Assistant Superintendent, West Ada School District
- Wendy Johnson, Superintendent, Kuna School District
- Sam Jarman, Superintendent, Alpine School District, Alpine, Utah
On April 19, the district held a forum with the four finalists, one for district staff members and one that was open for all community members.
West Ada Superintendent Mary Ann Ranells announced her resignation on Jan. 5.
Idaho Ed News reporters Nik Streng, Devin Bodkin and data analyst Randy Schrader contributed to this story.
