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Evansville superintendent planning to retire

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Heidi Carvin

EVANSVILLE — She’s been in school since she was 5, and nearly 55 years later, Evansville Superintendent Heidi Carvin said she’s ready to graduate.

Carvin announced plans to retire at the end of the school year, and the board will vote on approval at its Nov. 14 meeting.

Carvin will turn 60 in March.

“When I took this job, I thought I’d be retiring at 56,” she said.

She stuck around four more years “because I’ve really enjoyed being a superintendent,” she said.

This is Carvin’s ninth year in Evansville. She worked for 10 years as an elementary principal and English language learner coordinator in Verona after administrative and teaching positions in Stoughton, Elmbrook and Middleton-Cross Plains districts.

Her career has brought opportunities to live in great cities, she said, but she loves Evansville.

“I felt more at home in Evansville than any place else I’ve lived,” she said.

Carvin plans to stay in town, but she has plenty planned for retirement.

She recently became a grandmother for the first time, and other family members are dealing with health issues. She’s also excited to spend more time gardening, getting involved in the community, traveling and working on arts and crafts projects she’s had piling up.

Board President Kathi Swanson said hiring the next superintendent likely would be a standing item on meeting agendas. The board has to approve Carvin’s request to retire June 30, 2012, because her contract goes through 2013, Swanson said.

Then, the board will discuss whether to hire a search firm.

The Wisconsin Association of School Boards assisted the board in Carvin’s hiring. At that time, the board held community focus groups to gather input, Carvin said. Since the district is in the middle of strategic planning now, the board should have similar opportunities.

The board already has approved the retirement of Jenny Kalson, human resources director, which is set for the end of the school year.

Because of budget concerns, Swanson said everything will be on the table for filling the position.

“The board wants to look at everything as a whole and how it’s an opportunity to do some things differently,” Swanson said. “I don’t know what’s going to come of it.”