Kate Orozco formally announced her plans to resign as superintendent of Whitefish Public Schools during a meeting with the members of the school board on Friday.
Orozco informed the board that she will resign at the end of the academic year in June during a special meeting early Friday. She said her decision was influenced by her and her husband’s desire to be closer to their family in Idaho.
Orozco took over as superintendent in 2011. Under Orozco, the district successfully completed a massive renovation of Whitefish High School and overhauled the school’s curriculum. She was named the top superintendent in the state in 2013 by the Montana Association of School Superintendents.
“She will be sorely missed,” Ruth Harrison, vice chair of the school board, said. “She has really taught us an awful lot about education delivery and how we can become a 21st century institution.”
The school board will begin developing a plan to find Orozco’s replacement and will review options at its work session on March 24.
The superintendent position oversees Whitefish’s high school, independent high school, middle school and Muldown Elementary.