Rash of Administrative Retirements Hits Blue Springs, Missouri

A school district in Blue Springs, Missouri, has run into a bit of bad luck this year when it comes to administrative retirements. The past couple of years, the district had been lucky in not having a lot of administrative retirements, but that finally caught up to them this year.

On Monday, the Board of Education approved five retirement requests, which come just one month after retirement announcements from Patrick Crowe and Nancy Stonner, members of the human resources department.

The retirements from the district this month include Debbie Curtis, the principal at John Nowlin; Jill Johnston, the principal at Lucy Franklin; Al Michelson, the principal at Cordill-Mason; Will Cumberford, the director of buildings and grounds; and Tom Round, the activities director at Blue Springs High School.

“It is always difficult when so many go at one time,” Superintendent Paul Kinder said. “But we feel that we have the people to fill these positions in our district. Still, these are great losses for us. We must reload and go on.”

Curtis has worked with the school district for 23 years, the previous 13 of them with John Nowlin. Curtis has also worked at James Lewis Elementary and Georgeff-Baker Middle School. Cumberford worked with the school district for 28 years. He taught science at Blue Springs High School and worked as an assistant principal at Blue Springs South. For the previous five years he was working at the Central Office.

Johnston has worked in education for 29 years, the previous seven at Lucy Franklin. She was also a principal in the districts of Fort Osage and Oak Grove. Michelson worked for 38 years in education, the previous 34 of them with Blue Springs. He was a teacher and a counselor at Franklin Smith and also served some time as a principal.

Round taught science at Blue Springs High School for 25 years. Following the retirement of Tim Crone in 2007, he took over the position of activities director. He also served as an assistant AD and boys and girls golf coach and girls basketball coach.

“These losses are tough for us,” Kinder said. “People have to make their own decisions. They know when the time is right. This year, a lot of them knew the time was right.”

The spots left vacant by the retirements of Stonner and Crowe have had replacements approved by the Board of Education. Jason Woolf, a principal at Chapel Lakes, will become the director of human resources. Leslie Evans, the director of public relations, will become the new assistant superintendent of human resources.