N-P, RRMR’s new superintendent is excited about the job

By Bob Fenske, Nashua Reporter

Nashua-Plainfield and Rudd-Rockford-Marble Rock nailed down a smooth superintendent transition last week when both boards approved hiring a longtime southeastern Iowa school administrator as their new shared top administrator.

And that administrator, Todd Liechty, said he couldn’t be happier.

“I’m just so doggone excited,” he said. “I know I’m coming into two great school systems. The kids did well, the two districts do their finances well and they have great teachers and staffs that put kids first. That was critical for me.”

But the biggest selling point of the job may have come last Wednesday when he was interviewed in both of the districts that have shared a superintendent since 2018.

“Everyone was just so stinking nice,” he said. “We realized that this would be a great place to take that next step. Everyone — the boards, the teachers, the community members — just impressed the heck out of me.”

Liechty will take over the shared superintendent post on July 1, when he replaces the retiring Keith Turner.

Liechty and two other finalists went through interviews last Wednesday and that evening, in a joint board meeting, Nashua-Plainfield and RRMR board members tabbed Liechty as their choice. He accepted the job offer the next day.

Liechty — pronounced “LICK-tee” — has served as the principal at Mount Pleasant High School since 2006, and in a joint statement, the Nashua-Plainfield and Rockford board members said they were impressed with Liechty’s leadership ability.

“Todd has consistently raised reading and math scores in the buildings he has served,” the board wrote in a press release announcing the hiring.

Liechty brings a wealth of experience to the table, having moved from teacher to administrator in the 1990s, and becoming a superintendent has been a long-term goal, he said, although he conceded he had wondered if his time to move into the top seat in a school distinct had passed.

“I had always wanted to be a superintendent, but then when my kids got old enough I didn’t want them to have to move and have me move and miss their stuff,” he said.

He was traveling to the state softball tournament a couple of years ago with a Mount Pleasant school board member and was asked about that longtime goal.

“I said something like ‘no one’s going to hire an old fart like me,’” he said with a laugh, “but he really encouraged me to get my licensure, so I did. But I also knew if I was going to leave Mount Pleasant it had to be a really good opportunity, and, in my mind, Nashua-Plainfield and Rockford aren’t a really good opportunity, it’s a great one.”

Liechty joked about the move to the northern part of the state and potential weather differences.

“I did go to college at UNI, and trust me, I know we’re in the same state. But I remember it usually snows a lot more and the wind blows a little harder up here,” he said. “I told Denise (his wife of 34 years) that we’re definitely bringing our parkas.”

Liechty taught high school science and coached in several Iowa school districts before taking over as middle school principal at New London, high school principal at North Mahaska in New Sharon and the associate principal at Mount Pleasant before becoming the high school principal there.

Asked about his priorities as an educator, the answer came quickly.

“Schools are important to communities, and I get that. They bring us together in sports, music, all those activities,” he said. “But the bottom line is that our No. 1 priority must be and will be academics. And I did my homework on these two districts. It’s their priority, too.”

Leaving Mount Pleasant won’t be easy. After all, he was a student there before he returned as an administrator.

And he said he will remain focused on his current job while also working with Turner to transition before formally beginning his duties this summer.

Turner, too, said he will remain focused on his remaining time in the districts.

“We still have a lot of work to do,” he said last week. “It’s going to be a couple of busy months. But one reason I wanted to give our boards my notice back in January was so that they would have an abundance of time to find the right person for this job.”