Mar 30, 2017 2 min read

JEFFERSON – Jefferson-Morgan Superintendent Donna Furnier will be retiring this year, after 12 years in her position with the district.

Furnier submitted a letter of resignation to the school board, which was “regretfully” accepted at the March meeting.

“It was very emotional when she told us,” said John Shaffer III, president of the board. “We love her to death and we’re sad to see her go. There’s a lot of love and sadness at the same time for Donna.”

Furnier, who declined to immediately comment on her retirement, was hired as superintendent in 2006, after she had served a year as acting superintendent. In 2015, she took a medical leave for cancer treatment, and Craig Baily, former superintendent of Carmichaels Area School District, came out of retirement as acting superintendent in her absence.

Baily is now considered the “substitute” superintendent and fills in for Furnier occasionally, since she is stilling dealing with health concerns.

Shaffer said the district plans to recognize Furnier’s time and work within the district and to “honor her career.”

“She will continue to be a member of the Jefferson-Morgan family,” he said.

Joseph Orr, the high school principal, said that working with Furnier has been “a pleasure.”

“She was the reason I came to Jefferson-Morgan, and it’s been a neat place to work because of her,” he said. “A superintendent has to be so many things, but her great strength has always been that she is student-centered. She’s created a family atmosphere.”

Shaffer said that at the board’s April 18 meeting, it will reveal a plan to move forward in filling Furnier’s position. So far, board discussions about it have taken place in executive sessions.

“At the next meeting, we’ll have something to say about the future direction for what the administration will be,” he said. “We have a plan, and it will be rolled out at that meeting.”