Washoe schools searching for 5th superintendent in 10 years

RENO – The largest school district in Northern Nevada will soon be looking for a new superintendent for the fifth time in 10 years.

Washoe County School Superintendent Susan Enfield announced she`s stepping down in February for personal reasons after just a year and a half on the job in Reno.

Enfield notified school board members privately of her decision but staff didn`t learn of it until Nov. 20. She told the Reno Gazette Journal it had nothing to do with internal district issues or because of any kind of threats.

"It was the right thing to do for me and my family," Enfield said during a brief news conference Monday.

Enfield officially took over the district July 6, 2022, after Kristen McNeill announced an early retirement in September 2021, prompting a national search for her replacement.

McNeil was appointed interim leader in April 2020 after her predecessor Traci Davis had been fired in July 2019. Davis was hired after Pedro Martinez was fired in 2014.

School Board President Beth Smith said Enfield's decision was a shock. She said the board will have future conversations about searching for a new superintendent and possibly naming an interim when Enfield leaves.

Former Board President Mike Kazmierski, CEO of the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada, said Enfield's departure was a big loss for the school district.

"Susan Enfield was the best thing that happened in our school district in a long time," Kazmierski said.

"It has been a rough decade for the leadership of the district and we were, as a community, finally getting comfortable and confident with the leadership, strategic planning, and the direction they were going,” he said.