<I>The Eagle/Angel Carpenter</I><BR>District 3 Superintendent Newell Cleaver (right) joins Hank Lissman in serving green eggs and ham to Humbolt Elementary students for Dr. Seuss Day on March 2.

MT. VERNON – Newell Cleaver announced the end of his 14-year tenure as superintendent of Grant School District 3 during the March 10 school board meeting at Mt. Vernon Middle School.

He said the decision was not easy.

“It’s a very emotional decision for our family,” he said. “We’ve become a part of the community and made lifelong friends here.”

The change comes as his youngest daughter Morgan prepares to graduate from Grant Union High School in John Day and move on to higher education at BYU-Idaho.

“The driving force in my life is my family,” he noted, adding that his other five children are married and live and work in the Treasure Valley, including his daughter Chelsey Mendez, a Grant Union High School graduate who is now a second-grade teacher in Ontario.

He and his wife Wendy also have eight grandchildren, with three more expected in the near future.

Cleaver says he’s leaving a top-notch school district and school board.

“They’ve supported me when tough decisions had to be made,” he said of the board, noting this is a chapter of his life that will leave him with fond memories.

Cleaver won’t close the book on his career though, as retirement is not on the horizon. His work with Grant School District 3 ends June 30, and he starts a new position as superintendent of the Marsing Idaho School District July 1.

The southwest Idaho job will come with challenges as funding issues affect more and more schools, but there is quality staff and a solid school board there, he said.

Cleaver’s career started in 1973 as a first-grade teacher in Nyssa where he taught for 10 years.

He was also a K-12 principal, counselor, coach and school-bus driver in Huntington for six years and superintendent in Imbler for seven years before beginning his job at Grant School District 3.

Local board members Pat Holliday and Dr. Bob Holland, were both on the original board that helped hire Cleaver in 1996.

She said his leadership has been instrumental, along with the board, in making decisions that have greatly increased the quality of education in the school district.

“He’s a great long-range planner,” she said. “I believe the students of district will reap the benefits of many of the decisions that Newell and the school board made. It’s been a privilege working Newell for the last 14 years as a board member, and I wish him and his family the best of luck in this new chapter of their lives.”

Cleaver noted his appreciation for the school board members: Holliday, Holland, Tracie Unterwegner, Les McLeod, Gordon Larson, Holliday, Jim Cernazanu and Greg Jackle.

“I can’t emphasize enough how important this school board is to the success of our schools,” he said. “They try to attend the Oregon school board’s annual conference each year. They are diligent in reviewing their board agendas and supporting materials. They ask questions. They are responsive to concerns of the patrons and they allow the superintendent to lead the school and do his job.”

Cleaver has seen ups and downs in his time as superintendent.

Enrollment has gone from 1,150 students when Cleaver started, to 684 students, adding up to a $2.8 million annual drop in revenue.

He said enrollment is down by about 40 this year – “that’s going to have to be monitored to stay ahead of that trend.”

“Declining enrollment has driven the decisions in the school district,” he said. “It’s a real balancing act when you’re downsizing to maintain quality.”

The downsizing of the school district has included moving to a four-day school week 13 years ago, closure of Blue Mountain Junior High in John Day seven years ago, and most recently a cut of five days from the 2009-10 school year and downsizing staff through attrition.

All of these, he says, were positive moves which prevented layoffs and kept programs such as drama, music and sports intact.

“I can show other districts who don’t have these things because they didn’t make those tough decisions,” he said.

Other highlights he notes include the high graduation rate; the maintenance of old buildings, keeping them safe and pleasant; and the addition of technology to the schools in Grant County about 12 years ago with wireless services networked through the county’s Education Service District.

Low points have been few, the superintendent said.

They include people who criticize the district, but “don’t come in and share their feelings” with him, the principals or the school board. However, in this community, he said, there aren’t many who do that.

He wishes those who criticize would stop in to read with a first-grader.

Whether it’s on a professional or support basis, Cleaver says he’ll always be involved in education. He sees himself eventually working in schools for his grandchildren.

“When you look at the quality schools, one of the reasons they excel is the volunteers,” he said. “I can’t say enough about people who volunteer their time.”

The school board plans to address who will take Cleaver’s position at the coming board meeting at the Seneca School April 14. Grant Union Principal Mark Witty was appointed as the assistant superintendent last year, and Cleaver says indications are that the school board will move him into the position.