New Richland school superintendent backs out of the job. He blames coronavirus

The new superintendent of the Richland School District will not be coming on board.

In late March the Richland School Board picked Mark Davidson, superintendent of the Medicine Hat School Division in Alberta, Canada, to take over for retiring Superintendent Rick Schulte. At the time the schools were already closed because of the coronavirus.

Davidson withdrew his acceptance of the board’s offer as “a result of the circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic and the uncertainty it presents,” the district said in an announcement Friday evening.

He plans to continue to lead his current district.

The Richland School Board will be evaluating options for the superintendent position over the next several weeks, the district’s statement said.

The board is “confident in district staff and have full faith and confidence in their ability to close school for the summer and provide solid plans for opening school next year,” it said.

Davidson was picked in the district’s second search for a replacement for Schulte, who wants to retire. He has led the Richland School District and its 13,700 students for seven years.

Nicole MacTavish was picked to replace Schulte in 2017, serving as deputy superintendent as she signed a contract in March 2018 to become the new superintendent.

She agreed to end her contract in June 2019 and accept a settlement following tensions over possible budget cuts to the special education program and paraeducator staffing cuts.

This story was originally published June 5, 2020 at 6:33 PM.