Gary Sechrist
Superintendent Gary Sechrist has announced his intent to take early retirement affective June 30th. He tendered his resignation to the USD 405 Board of Education at the January BOE meeting. Sechrist has accepted a position with the Kansas Association of School Boards in their leadership division. “I was not looking for a new position as I have enjoyed my tenure in USD 405.” Mr. Sechrist said.
Gary Sechrist graduated from Fort Hays University and began his teaching career as an Art teacher at Hays High School. In 1983 he moved to Lindsborg to teach Art and also coached football, basketball and track. In ’92 Sechrist accepted a position as assistant principal in the Kingman school district. After only 3 months, he moved to principal when the current principal left. 1996 brought the Sechrist family to Lyons where Gary served as Lyons High School principal. Mr Sechrist replaced Mr. Darrel Kellerman as superintendent of USD 405 four years ago. Sechrist said, “I have appreciated my tenure in Lyons as the high school principal for 13 years and the superintendency for 4 years.”
In his new position for KASB, Gary will be serving the western Kansas area. His focus will be BOE training, district goal setting, superintendent searches and working with superintendents. Mr and Mrs. Sechrist will continue to make Lyons their home.
KASB is a not-for-profit organization located in Topeka, Kansas that serves members of governing boards for unified school districts, community colleges, area vocational-technical schools and cooperatives, interlocals and regional service centers.
The leadership division provides training customized to meet the needs of a district. The Association helps develop and support boards and administrators on school improvement and student achievement through seminars, research, evaluations and training. The department also oversees the KASB Superintendent Search service and administrator search service. KASB provides training, advice and support in all areas of district operations.
The USD 405 Board of Education met Thursday, January 17th to begin the selection process for a new superintendent. A KASB representative was present to determine the specifics of the search.