Caldwell superintendent to retire following school year

Kaeden Lincoln | 08/13/2025

Caldwell superintendent Shalene French plans to retire next summer, as Kelly Holm of the Idaho Press first reported.

“The word is out that I will be retiring,” French told the district’s Board of Trustees in the opening minutes of their Monday regular board meeting.

“I don’t want that to be a rumor, it is actually the truth,” she said before closing her report.

French at the beginning of her superintendency in Caldwell.

Chairman Travis Manning asked, in a surprised tone, when the superintendent plans to retire. French said she hopes to retire in June of 2026.

French then urged the board to be proactive in beginning their search for a new superintendent, suggesting they reach out to the Idaho School Board Association.

Should French retire according to her plan, she will end her career after a decade of superintendency at the Caldwell district, beginning in 2016.

Kaeden Lincoln

Kaeden is a student Boise State University and will be working as an intern with Idaho EdNews. He previously wrote for the Sentinel at North Idaho College and the Arbiter at Boise State. The Idaho native is a graduate of Borah High in the Boise School District.