After 30 years service in education, the last six with the Coupeville School District, Superintendent Suzanne Bond tendered her resignation to the school board Tuesday, effective June of this year.

Bond, in a letter to the board, called the decision to retire the most difficult of any she has faced during her tenure.

“This has opened the possibility to spend more time with my family, something I have not felt I could do enough of in the past,” Bond said. “I have determined that this opportunity is too important to pass up.”

School Board President Mitchell Howard said on Thursday that while he knew Bond was looking ahead at retirement plans, he didn’t expect her resignation to come so soon.

“I was really looking forward to working with her as president this year,” Howard said. “My own sense was that she had about two more years with us, and there were some goals we might have set.

“Now we have to shift gears,” he added, “and find somebody who can build on what she did.”

Howard was quick to praise Bond’s emphasis on team building and community engagement, a management approach he described as “horizontal as opposed to the vertical dimension of organizations.” He added that even though Bond is widely acclaimed for her ability to forge strong bonds with the community, “there have been times that she’s been pretty quick to take charge.”

Even now, the board is preparing the search process for a suitable replacement, and putting feelers out into the community as to what folks would like to see in the next superintendent. As Howard put it, “it will come down to something like ‘get somebody a lot like her.’ That will be interesting, because they don’t allow clones.”

Bond took over as superintendent 1996 after a period of turmoil in the district, when former superintendent Bernie Bartleson’s resignation was precipitated by a DUI charge, followed by one-year interim superintendent.

Howard said there “was a lot of controversy in the district at that time.” He added that a search lead by search coordinator Dick Smith brought Bond before the board for consideration.

“The search was under quite different circumstances” than the present search, Howard said.

Under Bond’s tenure, Coupeville schools largely have flourished, and are generally regarded as top-notch examples of excellence in public education. As one indicator of success, student scores in a number of categories in the Washington Assessment of Student Learning test have risen over the past couple of years. Public support is suggested by the February levy election which garnered a 72 percent favorable vote.

In her letter, Bond gave credit to her staff in fostering the district’s recent success. “The staff has been tenacious in the quest to continuously improve the curriculum and the instruction,” she said. “Our administrative team is strong, capable and not afraid to make tough decisions when it’s the right thing for kids. Our school board is dedicated, caring, supportive and talented.”

Bond also praised the high level of parent involvement evinced throughout the district, as well as the steady academic improvement of the students themselves, adding that her interest-based bargaining model versus a position-based model has proven a “real winner.”

Howard, while disappointed in Bond’s decision, said that he understands “she must have felt like this was the time.” Still, he said, it’s been a bit of a shock.”

Howard added that, whoever the next superintendent might be, he does not want to see many of Bond’s legacies “frittered away . . . I really didn’t expect this to be happening now,” he said. “I was psyched for 2004. I’m still having to catch my breath and find my footing. We’re going to have to get up to speed fast.”