COVINGTON, La. - St. Tammany School Superintendent Gayle Sloan announced that she is retiring from that position, effective at the end of the current school year.
"The time is right, our school system is in a good place," she said Friday.
Sloan took over the high performing school district in 2003, and under her direction, St. Tammany has continued to perform at an extremely high level. Overall, her district's ACT. scores are the highest in Louisiana.
"We have spent a lot of time building the capacity in this school system of the people who are doing the work," Sloan said Friday. "We have a community that values education and supports our school system. The (School) Board is in a good place as far as understanding their roles and responsibilities, so, it's time to go out on a high note."
Sloan spent her first eight years in education as a teacher in Jefferson Parish. She spent the past 31 years as a teacher and educator in St. Tammany.
Sloan said, she plans to stay active in education, and perhaps work with other school districts. In a press release, she said, "This has been much more than a job to me. It has been a labor of love."
School Board President John Lamarque said, "The Board realizes how fortunate our School System has been to have had her at the helm during some challenging times that required critical decisions."
The school system will begin a search for her replacement immediately.
