TWIN FALLS – Twin Falls School District Superintendent Wiley J. Dobbs will retire in September 2017 after leading the district the past 14 years.

Dobbs presented a letter to his Board of Trustees during a meeting Wednesday night.

“I thank you for the opportunity to serve as superintendent in the best school district in the state of Idaho for going on 14 years,” Dobbs wrote. “It is a pleasure to work with such an outstanding school board and a world-class district office administrative team.”

Dobbs timed his announcement to make sure he remain at the helm as the board conducts a months-long search for a replacement.

Dobbs has spent 45 years with the Twin Falls School District: He spent 12 years there as a student, graduating from Twin Falls High School, and 33 years as an employee.

Dobbs took his first job in the district in 1982, working as a substitute teacher. After that, he worked as a teacher, wrestling coach, rodeo adviser, middle school principal, district director of operations and, finally, superintendent.

Here are some of Dobbs’ career highlights:

• Twin Falls was able to pass six ballot measures totaling more than $180 million. Every levy attempted under Dobbs was successfully passed.
• With the levy money, Twin Falls built four new schools and provided maintenance and upgrades to all the other schools. The district also used some of the money to weather the economic storm caused by the Great Recession, and did so without eliminating programs or firing personnel.
• Twin Falls’ refugee program has been held up as a model by the State Department of Education and been the recipient of multiple grants to support Idaho’s newcomers.
• Dobbs was selected Idaho Association of School Administrators Superintendent of the Year in 2013, by a vote of his peers.

For more on Dobbs, read a profile written by Clark Corbin of Idaho Education News.