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LSC’S INTERNAL SUPERINTENDENT SEARCH LEADS TO KATIE RECKARD
The Lafayette school board looked in-house, as it said it would from the start, on Monday selecting assistant superintendent Katie Reckard as the district’s next superintendent, starting July 1, 2027.
Reckard – who has served two stints as assistant superintendent since 2016, sandwiched around a one-year run as superintendent of Western School Corp. in Howard County – will replace Les Huddle, who plans to retire at the end of the school year after 15 years with LSC.
“We have been fortunate to have very stable executive leadership in our district – the LSC has had two superintendents in the past 31 years,” Julie Peretin, LSC school board president, said ahead of Monday’s vote. Before Huddle, former Superintendent Ed Eiler was in the position for 16 years.
“One of the skills we admire in Mr. Huddle is his ability to identify excellent educators and develop them into strong and capable leaders,” Peretin said. “We wanted a candidate that could continue making positive strides toward our goals with an understanding of what that looks like in our community. We desired someone with the established relationships to build on the solid foundation that has been already been laid.”
Reckard said she was honored and grateful.
“LSC means a great deal to me,” Reckard said. “I promise to you, and I commit to you, that I will work hard. And bottom line is, I will do what’s best for our students.”
After an internal search started on word in June of Huddle’s retirement plans, Reckard’s selection came on a 5-0 vote, with one abstention by board member Oscar Trujillo. (Board member Brent Clemenz was absent from Monday evening’s meeting.)
Trujillo said his abstention – neither a yes nor a no vote on Reckard’s selection – was “not reflective of our new superintendent.” Instead, he referenced questions from some teachers, including those leading the Lafayette Education Association, during an August hearing about how the LSC school board conducted the search, including how the board didn’t venture outside the available pool of administrators in the district.
