By Zach Hagadone
Reader Staff
The Lake Pend Oreille School District Board of Trustees is due to announce its pick for superintendent in an early morning meeting Thursday, March 24 at the LPOSD District Office in Ponderay.
Casey McLaughlin.
According to the agenda, trustees will meet at 7:30 a.m. and, following an executive session, make public the selection between two final candidates: Casey McLaughlin and Becky Meyer. A third finalist, David Dude, rescinded his application and declined to go forward with a further interview on March 22.
McLaughlin, of Sandpoint, currently serves LPOSD as director of Federal Programs and assistant director of Teaching and Learning. He has experience as a middle school and elementary school principal, most recently at Sandpoint Middle School. McLaughlin received an Education Specialist degree for Superintendent from the University of Idaho and a Master of Education in Education Leadership, also from the U of I.
Meyer, of Rathdrum, is the current superintendent for the Lakeland School District, with a population of 4,200 students. She also has experience as an assistant superintendent for LPOSD, an elementary school principal, as well as a principal and assistant principal at Sandpoint and Lake Pend Oreille high schools, respectively. Meyer holds a Ph.D. from the University of Idaho and a Master of Education degree from City University.
Becky Meyer.
A total of six candidates underwent a series of preliminary interviews March 16-17, with finalist interviews and public forum sessions with McLaughlin and Meyer on March 22-23, respectively.
Current LPOSD Superintendent Tom Albertson announced he would retire in December, effective July 2022.
Appointed in the summer of 2019, Albertson served through a tumultuous period marked by the COVID-19 pandemic and the tense politics surrounding it. During that time, he told the Reader, “Tough decisions have been made that not everyone can agree upon.”
Albertson said he is stepping back from leadership of the district — which he attended from elementary school through graduation at Sandpoint High School, followed by a 35-year career as an LPOSD teacher, activities director and administrator — to spend more time with family and pursue other interests.
In his retirement announcement, Albertson said: “I am honored that the school board has trusted me to lead the school district over the last three years, and I have no doubt they will hire a great leader to continue leading LPOSD.”
For more information, including trustee meeting agendas, visit lposd.org/board-of-trustees.
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