Cayuse Prairie School’s Top Administrator Set to Retire in June
The district will be on the hunt for a new superintendent and is asking for public feedback on a survey to help determine the qualities the next candidate should have
By Mariah Thomas
The Cayuse Prairie School District’s top administrator will exit the district at the school year’s end.
Amy Piazzola, the district’s superintendent, said she needed to put in 25 years in education in Montana to retire. She hit that marker at the end of the last school year. After praying about it, she said she knew in her mind and heart that this would be her last year.
“The one thing I can honestly say is I truly love Cayuse Prairie,” Piazzola said. “It is indeed a very special place, and I felt it from the very first time I set foot on a tour of this building. It felt like it was home.”
Piazzola has helmed the rural district since 2012. With Piazzola in charge, Cayuse Prairie has experienced enrollment growth, expanding from 240 students to more than 300. The district also moved to a four-day school week under Piazzola’s leadership, following several others in the county. The move saved the district an estimated $30,000 per year.
In her eyes, two of the district’s largest accomplishments during her tenure were the process of coming up with Cayuse Prairie’s vision statement — “Rising up to make a difference” — and building its greenhouse in 2014, which has led to several unique programming options for the elementary district’s students.
She was named the region’s superintendent of the year in 2021. And with 14 years in her position, Piazzola serves as the Flathead Valley’s longest-tenured superintendent.
Before Piazzola exits, she hopes the district will pass a levy it plans to put on the ballot in May. The school board has yet to finalize details on the ask it will take to voters. The levy’s purported purpose is to help the district maintain its programming and operations at the current level. Piazzola has also said she hopes a levy will allow the district to save funds for a building expansion without taking a separate bond ask to voters.
“I hope the next person is stepping into a world where our levy has passed and that they will have sufficient funds to do all that they need to do moving forward,” Piazzola said.
The district will hold its first in a series of community meetings about that levy at the school on Thursday, Jan. 22, at 6 p.m. The board is expected to vote on the specifics of the levy pitch it will take to voters at its February meeting.
Piazzola’s retirement marks the second area superintendent planning to leave their post at the end of the 2025-2026 school year. Dave Means, the long-term superintendent at the Whitefish School District, will also finish his time helming that district at the year’s end.
Piazzola said the Montana School Boards Association (MTSBA) is helping her district conduct its superintendent search. The non-profit will handle advertising, screening, reference checking and presenting information about candidates to the Cayuse Prairie school board. Then, the board will make decisions about who to interview.
Piazzola said the community will have a chance to weigh in on finalists for the position once the board makes a decision on who those finalists are.
The application for the position is open through the end of January. Piazzola said she’s uncertain on timeline specifics, but anticipates the board will begin interviewing candidates in mid-February.
The board will hear an update on the district’s superintendent search at its Tuesday meeting. MTSBA is also administering a survey to gather public input in the search for Cayuse Prairie’s next top administrator. Those interested in providing feedback can take the survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CayusePrairieCommunitySurvey2026.