Olathe school leader says he’s leaving Kansas for a new adventure, but less money

Olathe school superintendent Marlin Berry said Monday he’s leaving Kansas for a new adventure in Arkansas for him and his wife, and he accepted a pay cut to do it.

Berry, who announced last week that he had accepted the superintendent’s job for the Rogers Public Schools in northwest Arkansas, told The Star that he and his wife, Judy, thought it was time for a new chapter in their lives.

“I have been in Olathe for nine years; it’s been wonderful and it is just time for something new,” said Berry, who is 60 and eligible for retirement in Kansas. He has been superintendent since 2010.

Berry learned about the Rogers opening through a superintendent search firm and then applied.

“I was not out there searching,” he said. “This was the only position I applied for.”

Berry was one of 61 people who applied and one of four finalists interviewed last week.

The Olathe school board accepted Berry’s resignation last Thursday. At that time Berry said that being superintendent in Olathe had been one of the best experiences of his life.

Berry, a native Kansan and University of Kansas graduate, earns a base annual salary of $231,000 in Olathe. He joined the Olathe district in July 2007 as assistant superintendent. But he’s been a public educator more than 35 years as a teacher and a principal.

The Rogers contract will pay him $215,754 per year through June 2019. It takes effect July 1.

Berry denied that his departure had anything to do with school funding problems in Kansas.

Kansas schools have been in the midst of a state funding quagmire with the threat of a July statewide school shutdown lurking in the future if legislators don’t fix equity problems brought on by a two-year block-grant funding program. A Kansas court had declared the state’s school finance formula unconstitutional and inequitable.

Last week Gov. Sam Brownback signed a bill that would revert back to a funding formula in play before the state went to block grant funding.

Berry acknowledged that although Kansas schools are facing “challenging times,” so are many other public school districts across the country.

In 2005 the Arkansas Supreme Court said state funding for public schools there, including the Rogers district, was inadequate, inequitable and unconstitutional. The state has since worked through those issues.

Berry said he’s looking forward to his move to the Rogers area which he described as closely linked to three similarly growing communities — Bentonville, Springdale and Fayetteville — creating an area population of somewhere between 500,000 and 600,000, Berry said.

“I know this is head-scratching,” Berry said. “But life is not all about money and enrollment size.”

The Olathe district has about 30,000 students enrolled in four high schools, nine middle schools and 35 elementary schools. A fifth high school — Olathe West — is scheduled to open in 2017.

Olathe is the second-biggest district in the state and the largest in the Kansas City area.

The Rogers school district has 15,077 students, three high schools, four middle schools and 15 elementary schools.

Like Olathe, it is a district with award-winning schools. Two of the high schools there are on U.S. News and World Report’s list of Best High Schools in America.

Olathe schools leaders will now work to choose an interim superintendent and announce plans to find the next superintendent.

Berry’s departure comes as changes in leadership are slated for three of the district’s four high schools when classes begin next year. Olathe South principal Phil Clark, Olathe Northwest principal Gwen Poss and Olathe North principal David Morford will all retire at the end of this school year.

The incoming principals for the 2016-17 school year will be Clint Albers at Olathe South, Chris Zuck at Olathe Northwest and Jason Herman at Olathe North.

This story was originally published April 11, 2016 at 5:29 PM with the headline "Olathe school leader says he’s leaving Kansas for a new adventure, but less money."