Hastings Public Schools superintendent to retire at end of school year

HASTINGS, Neb. (KSNB) - At the end of the school year, Hastings Public Schools will have a new superintendent.

Hastings native Jeff Schneider is retiring after working at HPS for 31 years and serving as the superintendent since the 2019-2020 school year. The district's Board of Education accepted his resignation letter on Monday.

Schneider said he's been thinking about this decision for "quite a while," but he feels like now is the right time.

"I think it may be time for a new set of eyes to run this organization," Schneider said. "The other thing I feel like is, we have an extremely strong board and I feel like it is a great time for somebody to come in when they have that kind of support rather than maybe if you had a board that was struggling. That could be difficult as a new leader."

Although it was a decision he was thinking about for a while, he said it was not an easy one to make.

"I'm going to miss the people I work with," he said. "I've met some of the best human beings in my 31 years at the Hastings Public Schools."

HPS hired McPherson & Jacobson, a leading national search firm, to help the district find their next superintendent.

"We want to make sure that we get that process correct," Vice President of Hastings Public Schools Board of Education Jodi Graves said. "That includes things like community input and how even we interview candidates and how many different community groups that we involve and things like that. So really we want to make sure that, that entire process is handled correctly, including after the new superintendent is hired."

Graves said although the school board was surprised by Schneider's decision to retire, they're grateful for his years of dedication to the district.

"I think that Superintendent Schneider's superpowers is his ability to handle relationships in the community, and the value that he places on those," Graves said. "He is so approachable, everybody in the community knows that they can come to him and he's just a trusted member of our community."

Shelli Pfeifer, the principal at Hastings Middle School, said that his approachability is garnered from his background in the education industry.

"He's been a middle school teacher, an assistant principal, a principal. So he gets the world that I live in," Pfeifer said.

Hastings High School Principal Jeff Linden said that he has enjoyed Schneider's leadership.

"I really enjoy his leadership. The way he interacts with us as principals, the way he interacts with everybody in the school district. He has a special way of connecting with people," Linden said.

Linden said that's what leadership Schneider exhibited is what attracted him to the school district.

While he only has the remainder of the school year left, he said that he still has some things he wants to accomplish before he retires.

"I want to have the budget ready to go for the next superintendent," Schneider said. "The day I walk out the door that should not be something they have to come in and worry about. It should be ready."

Reflecting back on his time as superintendent, he said there are also some things he wish he could've done.

"I wish I could've taken more off of teachers plates. I think our teachers are overwhelmed and overloaded," Schneider said. "I don't mean that just at Hastings Public Schools, I think that's true industry wide because we ask teachers to do so much. Asides just teaching, they are often looking out for the mental health of their students."

Schneider said he feels lucky to have spent his entire career in public education with HPS, and he hopes to continue being a resource for the district.