Two weeks after the Highland School Board approved a new early retirement program, the first person to utilize it came with the announcement of Superintendent Chris Armstrong’s retirement. Armstrong, who has worked in education for 34 years and is in the midst of his 10th year as Highland’s superintendent, made the announcement to his staff and the school board prior to the most recent school board meeting. At the meeting it was made official and announced to the public. Armstrong recently became eligible for the Iowa Public Employees’ Retirement System (IPERS) Rule of 88, which allows a person full retirement benefits when their age and total years served reaches 88.

The factors eventually added up for Armstrong, and he made his decision. He explains, “It’s definitely something that I have been thinking about as I became Rule of 88 eligible. I went through a process of thinking about it, talking about it, praying about it. Just trying to understand what might be my best next direction. I’d say once the board passed the early retirement program, I took another week of really just thinking about what to do. And it just became clear to me at that point, that it was time to move forward.” Highland now faces a search for a new superintendent, and Armstrong thinks it’s possible they might enter a sharing agreement. The board will decide their course of action at the February 13th meeting. To hear more about Armstrong’s retirement, listen to the In Touch with Southeast Iowa interview with him at KCIIRadio.com.