Photo by Deb Gau Marshall Public Schools District Superintendent Scott Monson submitted his resignation during Monday’s Zoom Conferencing meeting of district board members.

MARSHALL — The Marshall School Board on Monday accepted the resignation of Superintendent Scott Monson, effective June 30.

During a regularly scheduled meeting, board members also voted to search for internal candidates to serve as interim superintendent for at least a year.

The best time to recruit a new permanent superintendent will be in December or January, when there are more candidates available, said Marshall School Board Chairman Jeff Chapman.

Monson said in his resignation letter that he would be pursuing an opportunity in the private sector, but didn’t give more details.

“I consider myself blessed to have been a small part of the great things that have happened in MPS during the last six years,” Monson said in his letter. “I am proud of everything our students, staff, schools and school district have accomplished.”

“I’d just like to say thank you for your service,” Chapman told Monson during the school board meeting.

Monson declined Monday to speak with the Independent about his resignation, but offered to talk with a reporter today.

“The board was sad that he’s moving on. He’s done a great job,” Chapman said of Monson on Monday.

Monson was hired as Marshall superintendent in 2014. In the six years he’s been with the district, MPS has gone through some major changes. The question of how to accommodate a growing student population was one that took years to answer, with a building referendum going before the voters three times before being passed in May 2019. The $29.8 million referendum that was passed included construction of a building addition at Park Side Elementary and a new elementary school to replace West Side Elementary.

Chapman said other changes under Monson’s leadership had a big impact on Marshall schools. MPS started using more technology in the classroom, including portable devices like laptops and tablet computers for each student. That one-to-one technology has helped make distance learning possible for Marshall students during COVID-19 response, he said. During Monson’s time with MPS, the school district has also developed a closer working relationship with Southwest Minnesota State University.

Before Monson makes a decision, “He thinks about things, and he gets all the input,” Chapman said.

MPS has also seen some controversy during Monson’s time with the district. Earlier this year, a group of Marshall area residents threatened to sue the school district over a flag display at Marshall Middle School that included a rainbow LGBT pride flag. No lawsuits have been filed yet, but attorneys for the group of residents requested a large amount of data from MPS, including school and district policies, and any MPS employee emails regarding the display.

At Monday’s meeting, the school board approved a recommendation to search for an interim superintendent internally, before possibly conducting an external search. Chapman said he would work with district staff to set a timeline to accept resumes and conduct interviews with internal candidates. However, he said he would like to see the process start this month.

The search for a permanent superintendent will likely start this winter, when there are more candidates to recruit, Chapman said.