In a message sent to Mercer Island families, staff and community members on Jan. 18, Superintendent Dr. Gary Plano announced the end of his tenure as superintendent of the Mercer Island School District on June 30, 2017.

“While I hesitate to use the word retirement, I know that my newfound time will enable me to discover new passions and perhaps build on existing ones in new ways,” Dr. Plano wrote. “It has been a great privilege to serve you and our students these past 12 years. It has been an honor to end my 40-year career in education in a community that so values learning and honors educators. I will surely miss the wonderful people, including my entire staff, colleagues, parents and community members I have met over these many years. You have given me a lifetime of memories that I will always treasure.”

Plano has served Mercer Island for the past 10 years, having been appointed by Mercer Island School Board in September 2007.

“It has been an honor to end my 40-year career in education in a community that so values learning and honors educators,” he wrote.

He will be relocating to Ashland, Oregon this summer, where he plans to live the next chapters of his life, he wrote. Read Dr. Plano’s full message here.

“On behalf of the School Board, I want to express our appreciation and gratitude to Gary for his decade of outstanding service as our superintendent,” Board president David D’Souza said in a statement. “He has been instrumental in creating and implementing our 2020 Vision, Mission and Fundamentals to guide our district.”

D’Souza said the Board will announce soon the process for selecting a new superintendent.