SALT LAKE CITY – Announcing his retirement effective Aug. 1, Granite School District superintendent Stephen Ronnenkamp said his plans have nothing to do with education budget cuts or tough economic times — it's simply time to go.
"You kind of know when the time is right and when you've accomplished everything on your list," Ronnenkamp, 64, told the Deseret News this week.
Ronnenkamp has spent 14 years leading Granite District and said he wants to serve an LDS mission with his wife, Janis, while their health is still good. "I'm at a point in my life where I have a few good years left, and I want to spend my time in other service," he said.
Granite School Board president Sarah Meier told the Deseret News the board is sad to see Ronnenkamp go, since he is such a great leader. "He recognizes potential and delegates," she said. "His passion for public education is contagious. His love of children is second to none."
Ronnenkamp is making $200,000 annually. The board will begin working on a superintendent search immediately, including job requirements and a salary scale.
Since it has been more than a decade since Granite District hired a superintendent, the board will be looking to the State School Boards Association and other districts in Utah for advice, Meier said. "We're studying how to approach this," she said.
There will be a national search, and the board will hire the best candidate who applies for the job, regardless of whether they live in or out of Utah, she added.The board, in routine procedure required by state law, renewed Ronnenkamp's two-year contract in January.
While school districts statewide are experiencing budget cuts and struggling to make ends meet, Ronnenkamp told the Deseret News that factor "absolutely did not" affect his decision to retire. "I've never backed away from a challenge," he said.
Ronnenkamp has been in public education for 39 years. "I've done this for a long time. It's my life. But it's time to walk away," he said. "I have a sense of accomplishment."
Granite District, in Salt Lake City, has an enrollment of approximately 68,000.
Ronnenkamp served as a combat engineer in the Vietnam War. He spent 25 years working in Davis School District and has been a high school English and student government teacher, assistant principal and both a junior high and senior high school principal.
He was a district director and assistant superintendent in Davis District prior to being named as superintendent of Granite District in 1996.
Ronnenkamp has also taught graduate-level courses as an adjunct professor for Utah State University for the past 25 years. He completed his undergraduate work at Weber State University; master's and doctoral degrees at Brigham Young University; and post-doctoral fellowship/certifications from the University of Utah, Columbia and Harvard universities.
Ronnenkamp has served as president of the Utah School Superintendents Association and was named Utah Superintendent of the Year in 2003.
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