Forest Hills School District Superintendent Larry Hook says he will resign from the district's top job and likely retire from education at the end of the current school year.
He announced his resignation at the district's school Board meeting Wednesday night. Board members voted unanimously to accept his resignation. His last day with the district will be July 31.
Hook has spent more than three decades working in education and was hired by the Forest Hills School Board to lead the district in 2022.
"After 36 years, it's time for a new chapter, like spending more time with my family and looking at retirement," he told the Board.
Though Forest Hills earned high marks from the state for its academic performance, Hook's time as superintendent was marred by culture war issues, as Board members sparred with each other and community members over topics like diversity, equity and inclusion, LGBTQ+ rights and references to Donald Trump in school curriculum.
Hook found himself in the middle of one of those fights in 2023 when he admitted to covering a student-created mural promoting the acceptance of people of different races and sexual orientations inside Nagel Middle School with a banner promoting Forest Hill's new "Culture Blueprint." Students tore down the banner, and the district responded by painting over the mural altogether, sparking even more outrage.
When Hook was hired, the Forest Hills Board of Education was controlled by newly elected conservative members who, in the 2021 election, ran on a unified platform opposing DEI and Critical Race Theory. One of those members moved out of the district and resigned, while the rest did not seek reelection.
Now, all five seats on the Board are filled by candidates endorsed by the Democratic Party, who secured victories in the last two elections.
Board of Education President Wendy Strickler says board members will begin the search process for a new superintendent immediately, and they plan have Hook's replacement hired by this summer.
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