ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Anchorage School District Superintendent Carol Comeau announced her retirement effective by the end of the next school year at ASD headquarters Tuesday, marking the end of her nearly four-decade career with the district.
Comeau, 69, began her 37 years at ASD as a noon-duty attendant and teacher aide overseeing recess, rising to the position of superintendent in 2000. She established a reputation as a candid administrator, acknowledging issues the district faced and working to fix them.
Over her tenure Comeau has worked with three Anchorage mayors: George Wuerch, Mark Begich and Dan Sullivan. When she retires she’ll have spent a dozen years as ASD’s public face, announcing everything from spending cuts to school safety incidents.
Comeau has also played a key role in asking voters to keep funding school bonds in tough times, responding to the failure of several bonds on the 2009 ballot by declaring a bond holiday in 2010. This year ASD put forward three school bonds to renovate Service High School, cover maintenance costs across the district and fund vocational and technical education programs; only the third passed on election night April 5.
