N-P and RRMR announce new shared superintendent choice

To The Press

A southeast Iowa high school principal has been selected as the new shared superintendent for Nashua-Plainfield and Rudd-Rockford-Marble Rock schools.

The boards of education for the two school districts made the announcement in a joint statement issued Thursday afternoon, saying “Todd Liechty will serve as the new shared superintendent pending a formal background check and board approval.”

Liechty said, “I am thrilled to accept this position and am humbled to be chosen as your next leader. The people that I met during this process have, from both districts, been wonderful, and I look forward to meeting the rest of the cast of characters in both districts.”

Liechty has served as the Mount Pleasant High School principal since 2006, and was associate principal four years prior to that. He was also the middle school and high school principal for New London and North Mahaska Schools. Before becoming an administrator, he was a science teacher.

“Todd has consistently raised reading and math scores in the buildings he has served. He has also been responsible for implementation of 360 feedback systems for teachers and administrators. He has also led work-around behavior interventions and gradual release of responsibilities framework,” the school districts’ announcement said.

Liechty and his wife, Denise, have been married almost 34 years and have four children and one granddaughter. Denise is a Spanish teacher currently serving as an at-risk teacher at Mount Pleasant High School.

Liechty received his education specialist degree from the University of Iowa in 2020. He has a master’s degree in educational administration from the University of Iowa and a Bachelor of Arts degree in biology with a coaching mino from the University of Northern Iowa in 1984.

Liechty will transition with Superintendent Turner until formally beginning his duties on July 1.

“The school board members wanted to publicly thank everyone involved in the hiring process for their feedback and representing the district so well. They also want to publicly thank Keith Turner for his many years of dedicated service to both school districts. The districts are in a better place with programs and finances because of his leadership,” the announcement said.

The two school boards had met on March 23 to conduct screening interviews with five semi-final candidates, then selected three finalists who interviewed in the district on Wednesday. Each candidate interviewed with two interview teams, had district and community tours and interviewed with the school boards, the districts’ announcement said.

“The data was clear that Mr. Liechty was the best fit for the job,” the districts said. “His leadership and passion (were) noted by both the interview teams and previous references. One of his references said, ‘Mr. Liechty is direct and gentle at the same time. He is understanding but holds people to high standards and expectations. He is going to be a great superintendent!’”