In just a week, the Crane Elementary School District will be holding a public interview for the role of its next superintendent.
In December, the district announced that Superintendent Laurie Doering will be retiring at the end of the academic year, June 2026.
“It truly has been an honor working together to improve the lives of all children," Doering said. “I am reminded daily, with much humility and respect, how extraordinarily fortunate I have been to work with such knowledgeable, driven, passionate people and feel immensely fortunate to have had the opportunity to be a part of this exceptional district. Crane is a special place, and I know its brightest days are still ahead.”
When she retires, Doering will have served in education for 43 years.
Since the announcement, the district has begun the selection process for its next superintendent.
At January's governing board meeting, the board decided between hiring an agency to conduct a superintendent search or interviewing current leadership team members who have expressed interest in the position.
Crane Schools Chief of Finance and Operations, Dale Ponder, is the only member to have expressed interest, and the board decided to continue with holding an interview.
“The board considered a number of next steps for the selection of the next superintendent,” Board President Brenna Paulin said. “In considering the positive state of our district and the quality of our internal candidate, we unanimously decided to move forward with an interview with Mr. Ponder.”
The interview will be held on Tuesday, Jan. 27 at 4 p.m.
As a public entity, the interview will be publicly noticed, and then the board will enter into an executive session for the interview.
Although members of the public aren't able to partake in executive sessions, the board will be voting publicly when it makes a selection for superintendent.
This reporting is supported by a grant from the Arizona Local News Foundation.
