Superintendent annouces retirement
In news outside of the election, Columbia Public Schools Superintendent Phyllis Chase announced today that she would retire from the position, effective Aug. 28.
Chase, who is retiring in the fifth year of her tenure, said in a letter to the district's staff that she recently discovered that she was eligible for retirement benefits and that, while she was happy that she would begin to receive retirement benefits, she is sad to leave the district behind.
During each year of Chase's tenure, Columbia Public Schools was given a Distinction in Performace Award by the Missouri Department of Education.
In June, when the district's school board approved a budget plan that allocated six percent less revenue to teachers' salaries than last year, Chase took a voluntary pay cut.