School Board will consider his pending resignation on Monday
By Jason Arndt
Editor
After more than three decades with the Burlington Area School District, Superintendent Peter Smet has decided to retire, effective June 30.
“The time is right for my family and the time is right for the district,” Smet told the Standard Press on Friday.
Smet, according to a news release, cited stability, including consistent state report cards showing the district exceeding expectations as some of the reasons for his retirement.
Smet, whose retirement will go before the School Board for approval on Monday, states in his letter to the School Board that the district has a strong future.
That, he said, includes a healthy financial outlook and the referendum passed by voters last November.
“Our facilities are poised to be in the best shape they have ever been in with the work that will be completed over the next three years,” he wrote in the letter.
Smet, who has been with the district since 1988, became superintendent in 2012 after serving multiple positions at BASD.
He started in the district as vocational program coordinator, then served as assistant superintendent–business services before rising to the role of superintendent.
During his career in Burlington, the district built Burlington High School and its athletic facilities, Winkler Elementary and will soon break ground on a new Karcher Middle School.
“I have been fortunate with the career opportunities that the Burlington Area School District has given me. Now after 30 years it is a good time for me to retire,” he said in the news release.
Smet told the Standard Press on Friday he was planning to retire for about a year.
“I have been saving for retirement since I was 22 and have been planning for this for the last year or so,” he said.
The School Board, which will approve the retirement on Monday, expects to oversee the process of filling the void by July 1.
Although he will retire, Smet still plans to stay in the area, he said.
“I will still be very active. I am on the Board of Directors with Love, Inc.,” Smet said, adding he looks forward to becoming more involved with committees at his church.
Smet said he believes the district is in good hands, crediting BASD staff members.
For more on this story see the Jan. 17 edition of the Burlington Standard Press.
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