ESD Superintendent Jane Gutting to step down

YAKIMA, Wash. -- Jane Gutting, superintendent of the Educational Service District 105, plans to retire next year.

Gutting announced her retirement through a news release Wednesday after telling her staff at a meeting Tuesday that she plans to retire June 30, 2010.

Gutting, 58, said her retirement was part of a 10-year plan developed when she started the superintendent job in July 1 1999. That's when she and other district leaders completed a review of the district's needs and set goals.

"I knew it would take probably a decade (to meet the goals)," she said.

Since then, she has been involved with establishing curriculum improvement networks, helped school districts align their standards with the state's and started new programs to boost math and reading skills.

ESD 105 provides a variety of services and training to 25 public school districts and more than 20 private and tribal schools in Kittitas and Yakima counties and portions of Grant and Klickitat counties.

On Tuesday night, the district's board of directors selected Northwest Leadership Associates of Liberty Lake to lead the process finding a replacement. Their goal is to name a replacement by the end of March, Gutting said.

Gutting, a former University of Oregon professor, helped secure a Ready by Five project that provides early learning programs for residents of east Yakima, and has been appointed to serve on Gov. Chris Gregoire's Quality Education Council.

She has been with the organization for more than half of its 40-year existence. She joined in 1987 as a curriculum coordinator and served as director of interagency programs and assistant superintendent of educational services before taking the lead administrative role.

Gutting said that after retiring she will take a six-month break from work to decide her future plans.

"I'm not really retiring, I'm just taking a break," she said.

She will continue to live with family in Yakima, she said.