Utah’s state superintendent told staffers early Friday that she plans to resign from her job this summer after what will be nine years overseeing Utah’s public K-12 education system.
Sydnee Dickson joined the Utah State Office of Education in 2007 and became superintendent in 2016. In her emailed announcement, obtained by The Salt Lake Tribune, she said she will step down at the end of June.
Why now? She told staffers in the email: “It is simply nothing more than it is the right time for me to engage in other opportunities to support public education.”
Ryan Bartlett, the state school board’s strategic communications director, confirmed Dickson’s pending resignation and reaffirmed her reason for leaving: “She made the decision that this is the right time for her.”
He added Friday that the timeline will allow the newly elected board to “engage fully” in selecting her replacement. Bartlett did not respond to questions regarding whether Dickson plans to stay in Utah or what her next role may be.
Dickson’s resignation announcement was ”likely surprising” to many state education workers, Bartlett said, but “it was also met with understanding, appreciation, gratitude, for all the work she has done.”
The longtime Utah schools leader has been working in education for more than 40 years, according to her Utah State Board of Education staff page. As a student, she began her own schooling in a two-room building in rural Utah.
She went on to earn two master’s degrees and a doctorate from the University of Utah.
No matter her role in public education, “I always strived to make a difference,” Dickson said Friday, adding that it “has been an incredible journey working alongside all of you to improve education opportunities and outcomes for our children.”
Her tenure directing Utah’s public education system has seen trials including the COVID-19 pandemic, controversial book bans, restrictions on which restrooms transgender students can use at school, declining public school enrollment and legislative pushes to further privatize education.
She told her staff that she is “immensely grateful for your unwavering commitment to the children of Utah.”
“Your dedication, hard work, and innovative spirit have been the cornerstones of our accomplishments,” she wrote.
“We kept learning happening during a pandemic, made great strides in our goals of early learning, safe and healthy schools, effective teachers and leaders, personalized learning,” her statement continued, “and created stronger and transparent systems of accountability.”
As the state school board works to appoint a new leader, Bartlett said Dickson will work closely with board leaders to “ensure a smooth transition” to “set the organization on a continued path of success.”
