Carlson retiring after 10 years as superintendent

Havre Public Schools Superintendent Andy Carlson is retiring after 10 years in that position and 21 years with the district.

Carlson said he will be working at Independence Bank starting in August.

"To me, that's another chapter and I'm looking forward to that, but to me it's another piece," he said Monday.

The Havre Public Schools Board of Trustees was scheduled to consider his retirement and options it could use to find a replacement during a special meeting that was scheduled for 12:15 this afternoon.

Working for Havre Public Schools, Carlson said Monday, he enjoyed the people. 

"To me, that's the big draw in working in education," he said. "The students, the staff, just the interactions. It's such a relationship business ... that's the part I will miss."

Before being superintendent, he was a curriculum assessment specialist and the director of education, he said.

He said he can't pinpoint any favorite memories.

"It's the collective whole of it," Carlson said. "Every day is rewarding in this job. I don't know how I'd pinpoint one thing, because there's a lot of them. That's the truth."

Before Havre, he taught math at Kremlin-Gildford High School and coached girls basketball.

He added that he was blessed to start there as his first job.

"It was just an amazing place to work, and I think it was just a right fit for me, then the Havre opportunity came," he said. "This was an area that I wanted to stay in."

He was born in Klamath Falls, Oregon, but grew up in Auburn, Washington, he said.

He added that he came to Havre to play basketball at Montana State University-Northern where he received a degree in mathematics secondary education.

"I really like this place," Carlson said. "One of the things, when I took this superintendent job, I said it's the only spot to go is to leave here and the opportunity to stay here, and my children wanted to stay and continue to be Blue Ponies - this opportunity just provided that for us."

He said he is excited that with his new job he gets to remain in the Havre community and that means a lot to him.

"This community has treated me beyond well," he said. "The chance to stay here and do something a little bit different was very intriguing."

"I'd love to thank everybody," he added. "You start thinking of all the things that you need to say to folks, but the nice thing is that I'm going to have some time to do that and I'll do that individually. I'm thankful for everything that I have had."