Luther Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Sheldon Buxton read his resignation letter at Monday night’s school board meeting.
December 7, 2016
Dear Board President and Members of the Board:
This letter serves as official notice of my resignation from my position at Superintendent of Luther Public Schools. My effective date of resignation is at the end of the current year on June 30, 2017.
Thank you for allowing me to serve as your superintendent. Together over the past four years, we have accomplished many great things for our district. During my tenure we completed the construction of our $13 million new high school, added much needed technology for our students, replaced buses to bring our fleet up to safety standards, and built a new bus barn in which to maintain our fleet. Additionally, the completion of our agricultural show center and the new stand – along vocational agricultural building are completed projects the district will proudly utilize for many years to come while serving our students.
Financially, the district is sound. Together we have met the financial demands placed on our district as a result of state budget cuts. We also now have a complete accounting system in place which should serve the future needs of the district well. Our bonding capacity and ratings are excellent. Hopefully, the construction work we began will continue through improvements to the middle school and elementary campuses as well. Providing a continuance of improving facilities at all sites should continue on schedule.
I would like to extend my thanks to our teachers and staff for their efforts to support changes at all levels to improve instruction. I also appreciate my administrative team and the assistance they have given me to move forward with putting recommended changes in place at all academic levels. My administrators have truly been a blessing to me while I have served as your Superintendent.
My resignation is timed to provide the Board of Education and the community adequate time to prepare for the transition to new district leadership. Leading the educational efforts on behalf of our youth has been a very rewarding profession afforded to me over a number of years.
My personal desire is to continue to serve the profession in my future endeavors. I will continue to contribute to the success of our young people, as education is certainly the key to their success. I have been blessed to work with many fine professionals through the years, some of whom I helped train while serving in higher education.
My passion is strong, maybe stronger than ever, to assist this generation in completing their PK-12 academics and moving them towards their next step in college and careers. Again, I thank the Board for allowing me the opportunity to lead at the PK-12 level.
In closing, my deepest thanks to the community members for your support through the years. The potential for the district is immense. My prayers are that the students will benefit from implementation of your collective potential in the Luther Community in the future.
Respectfully,
Dr. Sheldon L. Buxton
Following the reading of the letter, Board Member Steve Broudy moved to relieve Dr. Buxton of his duties immediately and name Luther Middle School Principal Barry Gunn as interim superintendent. Charles DeFuria seconded the motion, but it failed on a vote with Board President Matt Mohr, Sherri Anderson and Ray Stanfield voting no. A motion to accept Dr. Buxton’s resignation passed.
Broudy said his motion was not personal against Dr. Buxton. He said it was an effort to avoid stagnation and move toward progress.
Dr. Buxton said he will not make any additional comments.
The board Monday night did not take any other action to seek a new leader for the district. Other actions from the meeting will come in a future story.
The meeting is available for viewing on the Luther Register account on Pericope.
