San Juan School District names Christy Fitzgerald as new superintendent
by David Boyle
News Director
San Juan School District announced Christy Fitzgerald will be the next Superintendent of Schools starting in July of this year.
Fitzgerald was nominated and voted as the new superintendent by the San Juan School Board at a special meeting on February 15.
Fitzgerald began working in the San Juan School District in 2016, starting as a principal before moving to the Assistant Superintendent role in the River Region, which includes the six district schools in Bluff, Montezuma Creek, Monument Valley, and Navajo Mountain.
Before working in the San Juan School District Fitzgerald worked for eight years as an instructional coach supervisor at the Davis School District.
Fitzgerald has earned a Master of Science in Counseling/Mental Health and a Master in Educational Leadership. The district shared in a release that Fitzgerald is working on a dissertation to earn a Ph.D. in Organizational Leadership.
In a release, the district shared that Fitzgerald’s “leadership philosophy is that leadership is a process of social influence that maximizes the strengths, efforts, and growth of others to achieve common goals.
“The district also shared they are excited for Christy and confident in her abilities to lead the district to new heights.”
Current district superintendent Ron Nielson announced in November 2022 his plan to retire from the district at the end of August 2023.
Following his retirement from the district, Nielson will manage the new Utah Food Bank building in Blanding, as well as the Food Bank distribution centers in Montezuma Creek and Monument Valley.
Members of the school board elected to open applications for the position within the district for six weeks before moving forward with a four-person candidate pool.
Fitzgerald is among four current district employees who interviewed for the position with the board at the February 8 board meeting.
Following Fitzgerald’s appointment board President Lori Maughan thanked the candidates who interviewed for the position. “We have a wonderful district and wonderful people and we are so happy that we could keep it in-house. We have great confidence in who is in our district.”