Highland and Lone Tree School Districts will be sharing a superintendent next year.

The Lone Tree School Board voted 4-1 to approve an operational sharing agreement. The agreement states Lone Tree Superintendent Ken Crawford will be shared with Highland getting 20% of his time, and Highland sharing their transportation director, human resources liaison, and buildings and grounds/maintenance director with Lone Tree getting 20% of their time. These four shared positions will give $139,944 to each district.

Crawford comments on how the Lone Tree School Board came to this decision, “When you share superintendents everybody’s thinking consolidation and merger. And we felt we got the message out that it is not about that, it’s about financial independence with that operational sharing money coming in. I think everybody thinks that we’re trying to get together and we’re not. It keeps both districts independent on that one, and we have a lot going on here with my first year here, and we’ve got the wellness center that’s going to be completed on June 1.”

Crawford cited the district may have been cautious about sharing him in his second year as superintendent, but he believes this will be a positive step for both districts.