At a special meeting on Tuesday, July 25, the GFW School Board discussed options for a leadership transition after Dr. Jeff Horton accepted the superintendent position at Southwest Metro Intermediate School District 288 in the Twin Cities.
Dr. Horton will start in his new role as of July 1 but will also continue to serve as superintendent at GFW through Monday, July 15, when an interim superintendent will be hired for a one-year contract. Dr. Horton will continue to work with GFW in an executive coaching role as well as serve as project manager for the new PreK-12 facility building project set to open in the fall of 2025.
“We want to be sure that our students continue to have access to great programming and that we are ensuring a smooth hand off on the work we have done together as a community,” said Horton. “We are going to make sure we keep our promises to our community by ensuring we continue to have a great building process and that the project will not be disrupted by the transition.”
GFW Public Schools has selected South Central Service Cooperative to lead the search for an interim superintendent. The community is encouraged to participate in building a superintendent profile to support the school board in selecting an interim superintendent. The survey for the interim superintendent search is available on the district website now at gfwschools.org.
“We are excited about the direction that the district is heading in and are grateful to Dr. Horton for his work over the past four years,” said Board Chair Dan Merkel. “The next leader of our district will be instrumental in the success of our communities in the future and we are looking forward to continuing our momentum.”
The district will continue to communicate information about the superintendent search throughout the process.
Learn more about the Superintendent Search and Complete the Survey