The Natomas Unified School District has announced Superintendent Steve Farrar plans to retire from his post at the end of November.
Farrar, 60, who has been superintendent of the 12,000-student school district since 2004, issued the following statement at the start of tonight’s Board of Trustees meeting:
After enjoying 36 years as an educator committed to improving the lives of children, I have decided to retire as Superintendent of the Natomas Unified School District to devote my time to my wife, four children and two grandchildren. My retirement will take effect at the end of November.
It has been my honor to serve as your Superintendent since 2004 when I became the fourth Superintendent in the history of the Natomas Unified School District.
I am pleased with the many accomplishments Natomas Unified has achieved in my years here — our recognition and celebration as the second most diverse school district in the United States, our national role in the “green schools” movement, our leadership in digital technology in the classroom and our passion for equity in education.
I also am pleased to be leaving the District with some positive news for our students, staff and community on our recent standardized test results. More and more of our schools are achieving results that put them near scores of 800 and are showing tremendous growth from last year to this. In some of our other schools, we continue to face challenges in our test results but I am confident we have the will to meet those issues.
I laud our staff and students for these achievements, many of which are extraordinary and speak to a culture that values every student and staff member.
As I embark on a new chapter of retirement in my life, our wonderful Natomas Unified School District will be in excellent care. We have a devoted team of teachers, school secretaries, principals and support staff committed each and every day to serving the needs of our 12,000 students.
I thank you for the privilege of serving as your Superintendent.
The Board of Trustees is expected to name an interim Superintendent later this fall while it conducts an outreach effort with full community input into the search for a new Superintendent.
More information on the selection process is expected within the coming weeks.
ding dong the witch is dead….
Thanks for the memories, crapweasel.
Johnny
Superintendent resignation: Check!
Resignation of all of the trustees: [Still waiting…]
I think the board deserves some of the credit for making this happen. Thank you.
If the board had an ounce of sense, they would have forced his retirement when the Grand Jury report came out, or when the land deal information came out, or on the cancellation of the police contract.
I give them no credit whatsoever.
I lost faith with him over the Harding affair and the land deal. The grand jury report was the final straw, but the board is political, and didn’t have the courge to tell our resident’s how he screwed us. His actions over spending 15 million dollars on a bogus land deal should put him in jail. He was a lame duck, I wonder what district will next have him??
The Bee this morning says that they were about to issue a no confidence vote on Thursday when he announced his “retirement” on Wednesday. Either way, good riddance. Would it be too much to hope that the board would vote to NOT hire a new Supt. anytime soon and use the $$ instead to hire back 2-3 more teachers? Center Unified is doing just that, and it seems to be working.
The Board should get credit for what? The mismanagement? I agree, if that is what you meant.