School board accepts superintendent retirement

The Havre Public Schools Board of Trustees during its meeting Tuesday accepted Superintendent Andy Carlson's notice of retirement and discussed options for filling the superintendent vacancy.

In a letter sent to the board, Carlson said he will be retiring from Havre Public Schools and education next Tuesday, June 30.

He has been the Havre superintendent for 10 years and has worked for the district for 21 years.

"Havre Public Schools has been such a big part of my life," he said in his letter. "I know that I will never be a Blue Pony, but I am so thankful that both of my children are and will continue to attend Havre High School."

School Board member Curtis Smeby made a motion for the board to do a local search for an interim hire superintendent for the current school with the intent of completing a full search for a successor for the 2021-2022 school year.

"I think we can put out a request of interest to the current employees in the district and do that this week, set up time frames for a response and then you would see if there are interested applicants," he said.

School Board Chair Aileen Couch said the board can name an interim and then in a few months can see if it is working well then have the choice on where they'd like to go from there.

The motion was approved unanimously by the board.

An email went out internally to people in the district from personnel and interest is due back by Monday, at 5 p.m.

Havre Public Schools also announced a Havre Public Schools Board of Trustees meeting scheduled for Thursday has been canceled.

A special board meeting will be held Tuesday, June 30 at 6:30 p.m., at Havre Middle School to discuss the applicants interested and pick an interim person to fill the superintendent position.

The next regular board meeting will be Tuesday, July 14, at 6:30 p.m at Havre Middle School.