Whitefish School District Superintendent Announces Retirement, Effective End of June
Dave Means led the district through the COVID pandemic and to a successful high school expansion bond during his time in the role as head administrator. The board announced a search committee has been selected and tasked with selecting a firm to facilitate the hunt for someone to fill his shoes.
By Mariah Thomas
The Whitefish School District board approved the retirement of Superintendent Dave Means at its meeting Tuesday, teeing up a search for someone to replace the veteran educator in the district’s top administrative role at the school year’s end.
“I just really want to say — people say this a lot — but it truly has been an honor serving in this role,” Means said. “There’s no question in my mind. Being a part of this amazing Whitefish School District community, and when I say community, that means everybody who’s involved in helping this school district move forward. It’s been truly an honor and I’m proud to be a part of it.”
Means added he has been grateful for the focus on academic excellence in Whitefish Schools. His retirement from the role comes “because it was time,” he said. He’ll finish out the school year in the role, with his retirement becoming effective on June 30, 2026. He looks forward to spending more time with his family and said he may work in consulting after his retirement.
Means took over the superintendency in March 2020, following a failed search for a permanent head administrator for the district, said board member Katie Clarke. Prior to taking over as superintendent, Means spent 16 years as the district’s director of special services.
Clarke served as the board chair in 2020 when Means took over. In a statement during the board meeting, she said Means brought stability to the district throughout an uncertain period.
“I wanted to acknowledge that Dave did not apply to be the superintendent,” Clarke said. “He was the special services director, and the board went through the entire search process with the committee, all of us did. And the last minute, our hire fell through, and it was too late to do it all over. And we knew that Dave was really respected by the people in his department and had done great things for the district. We called him into this room and said, ‘Please, can you do it just for a year?’ You know, the district needed a stabilizing force during that time, and Dave didn’t hesitate.”
When Means’ six years as superintendent finish, he will have led the district through the COVID pandemic and to a successful high school expansion bond. His peers in the Northwest Montana Association of School Superintendents named him the region’s Superintendent of the Year in 2023.
In Clarke’s estimation, what will endure most is a legacy of kindness she said Means brought to the district.
Means’ retirement puts the district on the search for someone to fill in the role.
On Tuesday, board chair Elizabeth Pitman said she had already appointed members to a search committee. That committee is tasked with finding a firm to lead the search for a new superintendent. Members of that committee are Pitman, Clarke, board member Shannon Hanson, Whitefish Schools human resources director Sara Krumm and the district’s director of business, Lucie Shea.
“There will be lots of opportunities for input along the way, and the search committee is pretty much just in charge of picking the firm,” Clarke said.