Lakeland Superintendent Lisa Arnold announced her retirement late last week after a stressful year following a failed levy, subsequent budget cuts, and a long campaign for an eventual levy passage.
Her resignation means the school district, which serves nearly 4,500 students in the communities of Rathdrum, Athol, and Spirit Lake, will have new leadership next year. Assistant Superintendent Lynn Paslay already submitted her resignation earlier this spring.
The departures come after a tense and controversial period for the district with two failed levies in as many years, budget cuts, and frequent dramatic school board meetings.
Arnold told Ed News Monday that her retirement was in part due to health issues after a regular physical turned up high blood pressure.
“My doctors told me I had to do something about that,” she said. “At some point, you have to look at the mirror and say ‘Am I being as effective as I want to be?’ And at this point I think somebody else can come in and be more effective. Ultimately, I want what’s best for the school district.”
Arnold spent her entire teaching career at Lakeland. She taught first grade for nine years before a short stint teaching fourth grade. She then served as the assistant principal at Betty Kiefer Elementary for six years and principal for another five. She spent eight years as assistant superintendent before she was hired to replace Becky Meyer as superintendent three years ago.
Since her retirement was announced last week at a special meeting of the board of trustees, Arnold said several of her own high school teachers have reached out to congratulate her on a stellar career. She wasn’t even aware her Post Falls teachers were following her career as she looks to her 40th high school reunion this summer.
“That’s the beauty of living in a small community,” she said.
Her retirement comes after a months-long levy campaign following a failed ballot measure in November. After the levy failure, the board of trustees held a series of meetings to settle on budget cuts and a new, smaller, levy ask.
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At those meetings, trustees frequently snipped at Arnold and other district administrators. While Arnold declined to address the tension in those meetings, she did say the time consuming levy campaign might have “played a little part” in her decision to retire. The district’s supplemental levy ultimately passed last month with 67% of voters in support.
“There just are a lot of kind of moving factors but ultimately just the toll of the stress has on your body, it’s something you can’t ignore,” she said.
She noted her own mother died before she had the chance to retire and Arnold promised herself she wouldn’t let that happen to her. In retirement, she hopes to spend more time with her husband who works out of state and teach herself how to can food.
Trustees held a less than 10-minute-long special meeting Friday to accept Arnold’s retirement and approve the superintendent job description. A committee, including the district’s human resources director, chief financial officer, principals, a teacher from each school, and a representative from each school’s parent group will evaluate the applicants for superintendent and assistant superintendent.
Arnold encouraged the incoming superintendent to take the time to understand Lakeland’s unique community.
“We have an amazing staff, I hope they take the time to get to know the staff, their strengths,” Arnold said, noting she and the previous superintendent knew everyone by name. “They just feel seen when that happens.”
While the timing of her retirement is not ideal, since Paslay the assistant superintendent is also leaving, Arnold said she hopes the district will find a pair of strong leaders.
