UPDATED May 26 – Alison Sidow, the Superintendent for the Kamloops-Thompson School District has announced her plan to retire at the end of August.

Sidow has been Superintendent since 2016 and announced her retirement at a Board of Education meeting today, May 25.

“We have been impressed by the direction Superintendent Sidow has set for SD73,” Board Chair Kathleen Karpuk said in a statement. “Our district is recognized throughout the province for its innovation in the sector both for how we deliver education and in how we respond to crisis.”

Karpuk was referring to the aftermath of the Parkcrest Elementary School fire last September, and more recently the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to SD73, Sidow’s career in education has spanned thirty years and included positions with the provincial government as Superintendent of Achievement as well as Superintendent of School District No. 74 Gold Trail.

She began her teaching career in the Bulkley Valley and spent several years at an international school in India before joining SD73 in 2012 as the Assistant Superintendent of Elementary Education.

“Alison has been absolutely spectacular in her role,” Karpuk added, while speaking on the NL Morning News on May 26. “She is just a very capable, thoughtful leader and she has accomplished a lot of amazing things in her time as both Assistant Superintendent and Superintendent in our district.”