On Wednesday night the Lake County Board of Education accepted county Superintendent of Schools Dave Geck's resignation.
Geck told Lake County News that he will retire effective Aug. 31, clearing the way for Wally Holbrook, elected in June to succeed him, to take office before January.
He said this was an opportune time to step down.
“Our idea was to really look at leadership transition,” Geck said.
Holbrook said he was excited about getting to work early.
He said he will be serving on an appointment basis until he formally takes office in January.
The development, said Holbrook, “was evidence of a good transition that Dave and I have been working on for awhile.”
Holbrook said it's an opportunity for him to step into the role at the same time as schools around the county start. “I'm looking forward to that.”
Geck himself took office early in 2006, with his predecessor, Bill Cornelison, stepping down early so Geck be sworn in during a September ceremony.
After the June 8 election, in which Holbrook won with 59.6 percent of the vote, he began meeting with Geck and the deputy superintendent, along with other officials at the office of education and county board of education members.
Geck said the sooner they could put the transition into place, the more money they could save.
He is at the stop salary step – $122,000 a year – for the office, while Holbrook will begin at $116,000.
Geck will work, unpaid, to assist Holbrook through the rest of the transition, with the district covering his health benefits for the remaining four months of the year.
With those savings, and with Holbrook working three-quarter time until January, Geck said the district is estimated to save $30,000 in salary costs over the coming 16 months.
Holbrook said he has been spending a lot of time getting to know people, and understanding how people and programs fit together in the office of education.
“I'm learning every day,” and enjoying it, said Holbrook.
He's looking forward to starting work at the start of the school year, with its unique energy.
Once in office, Holbrook said a review of all of the office of education's programs and services will start right away.
Geck has been with the Lake County Office of Education for 14 years and has a 35-year career in education, more than 30 years of it spent locally. He decided last fall not to seek a second term.
He and his wife, Rose, are retiring at the same time, and are looking forward to being able to work together on future projects.
Both are educators, but he said they may not work in education and instead might pursue projects in a different area.
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