Kodiak Island Borough School District Superintendent Cyndy Mika will step down at the end of June. Mika is in her fourth year in the job. She moved to Kodiak from Texas, where she was an assistant superintendent.
She presided over several challenges during her time in Kodiak, including budget shortfalls that led to the closure of North Star Elementary earlier this year.
Despite the challenges, she said her resignation is strictly personal.
“Nothing with the job had anything to do with my decision,” Mika told KMXT. “I would stay here 5, 10 more years”
Mika cited “personal family reasons” for her decision in a letter to the Kodiak community and said her son has already moved back to Texas and is living with family. She said she doesn’t feel ready to retire, but will move back next year despite not having any jobs lined up yet either.
“I don’t feel like my work here is done,” she said. “I don’t think any superintendent ever feels like their work is done, but I really don’t feel like my work is done – I feel like we’re just hitting our stride and making great improvements.”
She said the district will likely face another deficit of about $8 million, but is still waiting on final numbers, like its student count, to figure out the budget for next year.
Mika said most of her team was brand new in their positions when she first arrived, and they should be able to set up the next superintendent for success.
She said she’s grateful to the community for her time here.
“I love living here, I love this community, and it will always have a deep place in my heart, mine and my son’s,” Mika said.
The local Board of Education hasn’t announced plans to find a successor yet, but is slated to figure out next steps at its meeting in early November.
