Why Richland’s superintendent is leaving when her contract ends
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- Superintendent Shelley Redinger announced departure at end of contract, June 30, 2027.
- Announcement comes as district asks voters to approve 2 crucial levies that fund schools.
- She believes plan won’t have an impact on voters’ Feb. 10 election decisions.
Richland School District’s superintendent doesn’t believe her announced departure will sway voters’ minds in the upcoming Feb. 10 special election.
Superintendent Shelley Redinger’s decision last week to announce her departure in summer 2027 took many in the community by surprise. The timing also raised eyebrows, with two essential tax measures up for renewal next month and ballots already mailed to registered voters.
“I didn’t think it would hurt the levy,” Redinger said in a Monday interview. “If I thought in any way it would hurt the levy, I wouldn’t have announced it.”
The leader overseeing the education of 13,800 students sat down this week for an interview with the Tri-City Herald to explain why she chose to leave her top spot, and what’s next for her and the school district where she cut her teeth.
The district is asking for voters to renew two tax measures on the ballot next month: A $203 million education and operations levy, and a $41 million technology improvement levy.
The pair provides essential funding for teaching, athletics, security, computer and software replacements, maintenance and operations, and instructional materials.
‘It’s the right time’ to leave
The school board over the summer declined a routine one-year extension of her contract amid serious financial woes, administrative turnover and lackluster growth in student achievement. This is the first time a board has declined to renew one of her superintendent contracts, she said.
Redinger, 58, said her contract was “part of the consideration” to leave. But it isn’t the whole story, she explains, and her departure wasn’t a foregone conclusion.
The district has been through a whirlwind during her tenure — it weathered a painful pandemic, a controversial recall process, a shocking school shooting, a failed bond to build a third comprehensive high school and averted near financial catastrophe.
Redinger is now hoping Richland can find some peace.
“I want to do what’s best for this community so that it can thrive and come together, and I know that my presence is a reminder of some of that division over the years,” she said. “I truly do love this district. I’ve been in it a long time in very different roles, and I have a huge respect for the community and staff here.”
“That made the decision difficult. I wouldn’t want anyone to think that I’m leaving them, it’s just I think it’s the right time,” Redinger continued.
But nearly a year after she began implementing painful cuts to the district started, the district has found itself on steadier financial footing. The district also coordinated a lauded multi-month response to the public shooting death of a paraeducator at Wiley Elementary School.
When asked why she thinks she’s seen as a divisive figure, Redinger said it “goes back to COVID” and her decision to close schools for two days following a split school board decision to violate the state’s mandate on face coverings.
“I think really that was a turning point... That was a real pivotal decision that I think impacted the trajectory,” she said.
But Redinger says that was the right decision, and she wouldn’t have done things differently. She says she’s not a “go along to get along” type of superintendent, but acknowledged that sometimes her decisions upset people.
“I’m going to make the right decisions,” she said, adding later: “The buck stops with you... That’s just part of being a leader.”
Redinger ‘pursuing other opportunities’
Redinger — who has worked about 36 years in education — believes in the adage that superintendents lose 10% support each year. But she believes her long tenure leading four school districts is a testament that she “can’t be doing everything completely wrong.”
She came to Richland with the intention of finishing out her career here. She said she would have liked for that to have worked out.
“I do have some different retirements out in different states. But yes, before I could have full retirement in four more years. So I am pursuing some other opportunities — I still have some good work left in me, I’m not ready to retire yet,” Redinger said. “I love a challenge.”
She’s not opposed to another superintendency. She would also consider opportunities in higher education; she’s taught adjunct at Washington State University over the years.
Does she want to stay in the Tri-Cities? She’s open to the thought.
“You know we’re adventurers, my husband and I,” Redinger said with a smile.
Tri-Cities roots
Redinger will leave Richland at the end of her current contract, which expires June 30, 2027.
She earned a base salary of about $225,600 last school year leading the education of students at 21 elementary, middle, high schools and choice schools.
The school board will be tasked with finding her replacement. Redinger says the timeline on that process is yet to be determined, but that it will allow them enough time to “thoughtfully transition leadership and allow the next superintendent to build on this momentum.”
“Until my tenure is complete, I remain fully committed to serving our students, staff and families, and to ensuring the district continues to be well-positioned for long-term success,” she wrote in a letter to families last week.
Redinger came to the helm of Richland schools in August 2020. Throughout each of Richland’s obstacles students, staff and families have remained resilient, she wrote to families.
“Because of our collective perseverance, Richland School District is on solid footing and moving in a positive direction,” she wrote.
She got her start in education in the district in the 1990s, and worked 13 years as a teacher, principal and administrator.
She served as superintendent of the Oregon Trail School District in Sandy, Ore., and Spotsylvania School District in Fredericksburg, Va., before coming back to the Northwest.
Redinger also led Spokane Public Schools for eight years — where she expanded choice programs for families and passed a $495 million capital bond project — before coming home to Richland.
This story was originally published January 27, 2026 at 12:53 PM.
