District 66 Superintendent Will Retire in June

Jay Tiede, superintendent of , is retiring after 39 years with the district. 

Tiede announced the news at Tuesday's District 66 board meeting. His last day will be June 30. 

Tiede started as a music teacher at Center Cass Elementary School in 1973. He was among the first group of teachers who opened in 1975, serving as a band teacher and then the director of the music department.

He was the assistant principal at Lakeview from 1981 to 1988. Tiede then left Lakeview to be the principal of Center Cass Elementary until he became superintendent in 2000. 

Tiede had another year on his contract, but said he thought it was time for new leadership in the district. 

"With the new teacher's contract, lots of retirements, the state's performance-based evaluation for the district, my thought was it would be better for the district to have some new leadership to finish these things," he said. 

He said his ulterior motive was to spend time with his wife, who has been retired for four years. But leaving District 66 is bittersweet. 

"I love every day that I'm here," Tiede said. 

"When I got here, everything was farmland," he said. "It's been great and it's been a lot of fun. I have children of children here. It's amazing how many people come back to the district to raise their families." 

Tiede said the district is in good shape "in every sense of the way." 

"We've accomplished a lot of great things," he said. "I'm very proud of what this group has done."