David Loutzenheiser will be announced as the next superintendent of the Higley Unified School District at the governing board meeting tonight.
Loutzenheiser, the district’s executive director of secondary education and athletics, is being recommended over the other two finalists, Queen Creek Unified School District Associate Superintendent Erika Copeland and Randy Mahlerwein, assistant superintendent for secondary schools at Mesa Public Schools.
The hire is pending board vote and contingent upon negotiation and board approval of an employment contract.
Loutzenheiser, who will begin July 1, will replace Sherry Richards, who is retiring.
It also is the end of a protracted road for Higley in securing a more permanent superintendent since Dawn Foley stepped down in June 2023.
After Foley resigned, an outside firm-led search resulted in the selection of Nate Carman from the Socorro Independent School District in El Paso, Texas.
However, the board quickly had to withdraw the offer after Socorro placed Carman on administrative leave last March as an external forensics audit identified him as having a possible conflict of interest regarding district purchasing decisions.
Instead, the board elevated Richards, who was serving as interim superintendent, to the full-time superintendent for the year. Richards postponed her retirement and was elevated from interim status when Carman’s contract was rescinded.
This year’s search was conducted in-house, led by Human Resources Executive Director Karen Johnson as well as Chief Financial Officer Tyler Moore.
Loutzenheiser, a 26-year educator and Arizona native, has degrees from Northern Arizona University and Arizona State University. He has served as a teacher, coach, principal and administrator. Passionate about student success, he has led innovative academic and athletic programs, according to the district.
The Higley USD governing board meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. at the district office, 2935 S. Recker Road, Gilbert.
Meet Tom Tom Blodgett joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2022, when the company acquired Community Impact Newspaper's Phoenix-area properties. Raised in Arizona, he has spent more than 35 years in journalism in the state.
Community: He has served as an instructional professional in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication since 2005, and is editorial adviser to The State Press, the university's independent student media outlet. He also is director of operations for an 18U girls fastpitch softball team from Gilbert.
Education: Arizona State University with a BS in Journalism.
Random Fact: He lived in Belgium during his freshman year of high school.
Hobbies: Tweeting enthusiastically about ASU softball (season-ticket holder) and grumpily about other local sports (pessimistic fan).
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