Montgomery County Public Schools Superintendent Jerry Weast has announced he will retire at the end of his contract next June.[
Dr. Weast is one of the nation’s longest-serving school district superintendents.
“It has been an incredible honor to serve this system as superintendent and I will be forever grateful for the opportunities I have had here,” said Weast, who first joined MCPS in July 1999.
“This is a very bittersweet day for Montgomery County Public Schools,” said Board of Education (BOE) President Patricia O’Neill, after receiving Weast’s retirement news.
“Over the past 11 years, Dr. Weast has provided this district with unwavering leadership, vision and passion. Working collaboratively with the board, the community and our employees, he has guided us through one of the most comprehensive and successful school reform efforts in the nation, the results of which will have a positive impact for generations of children and adults,” O’Neill said.
Gaithersburg Mayor Sidney Katz said he was not surprised by the news, and he recalled Weast’s work for area schools alongside the Board of Education.
“He’s been truly a positive influence on us,” said Katz, noting MCPS’s partnership with the city to build Lakelands Park Middle School and the current effort to get construction of a new Gaithersburg High School underway.
Weast’s contract expires on June 30, 2011. For more on his legacy and retirement plans, visit www.mcpsmd.org.