In a regular meeting of the Harlan Community School District Board of Directors Monday, Justin Wagner, Superintendent of Harlan Community Schools, resigned from his position effective June 30th, 2020.  His last day at Harlan  Community will be June 2nd when he will be deployed overseas.  The following is an excerpt of a statement Wagner made to our sister station KNOD, while he is on military leave. The statement was also read during the Harlan School Board meeting, Monday night.

“For a variety of reasons the 18-19 school year was a challenge for the Harlan Community School District.  After certain accusations were published and other concerns came to the board’s attention, the board and Superintendent Justin Wagner worked together to determine the validity of those accusations and concerns.  Superintendent Wagner denied these allegations, so the board engaged an independent investigator and also conducted a 360 degree survey of staff.  The investigator did not find Mr. Wagner engaged in illegal conduct.  Additionally, as a result of the investigation, both sides recognized certain long standing district practices should be updated.  Both the board and the superintendent value the opinion of district staff and are in the process of addressing some concerns.

“In the midst of that collaborative process, Superintendent  Wagner was called to duty to serve his country overseas.  Current orders are for him to deploy  in June 2019 and to be gone for approximately 7 months.  This means the district must obtain an interim superintendent for much of the 19-20 school year.  Because of this and because Superintendent Wagner and his family will need some time together to re-acclimate, the board and Superintendent Wagner agreed this was a logical time to make a change, not only for the Superintendent and his family but also for the district.

“Therefore, the board and Superintendent Wagner agreed that he will resign effective June 30th, 2020 but will not be required to return to work after his deployment in order to spend time with his family upon his return.  Superintendent Wagner’s last official day on the job in the district will effectively be June 2, 2019.

“Harlan Community School District remains one of the premier 3-A school districts in the state.  The Board is appreciative of Superintendent Wagner’s passion and energy spent in purposeful service to the district’s vision and mission and we also appreciate his military service.”

The Board provided Wagner with a letter of recommendation, also.