Lane Plugge leaving Iowa City schools after 11 years

Lane Plugge's final months as superintendent of the Iowa City school district may have also been the most demanding in his 11 years on the job.

A year ago, there was his controversial recommendation to close Roosevelt Elementary School and millions of dollars in budget cuts. This year saw the resignation of City High Principal Mark Hanson and, of course, redistricting.

“It's been an extremely busy couple of years, and the circumstances around it ... have been a challenge,” Plugge said.

He's leaving as head of Iowa's fifth-largest school district, with 11,900 students, at the end of this week to become the chief administrator at the new Green Hills Area Education Agency in western Iowa.

Plugge, 57, will be replaced by Stephen Murley, superintendent of the Wausau school district in Wisconsin.

Plugge came to the school district in August 1999 and had a bit of a rough start. He was the board's second choice, and a teachers union official called him “the Grand Island reject,” a reference to the Nebraska school district Plugge came from.

Plugge said the key to overcoming that was developing a good relationship with the school board, staff and community.

Jone Johnson, a former president of the Districtwide Parents' Organization, said most parents found him to be approachable and visible.

“I think he cares passionately about the kids at the Iowa City school district,” she said.

And there have been more and more kids. At a time when many Iowa school districts are shrinking, the Iowa City school district has seen its enrollment increase by more than 10 percent since Plugge started.

Many of the highlights from Plugge's tenure stem from that growth. Several schools have opened, with more coming. There was the $39 million bond referendum in 2003 and the school infrastructure local-option sales tax in 2007.

With redistricting, the school board adopted a plan proposed by Plugge that includes eventually opening a third comprehensive high school.

Plugge said his decisions and recommendations have always put students first.

His decision to leave, however, is personal. Plugge and his wife, Debbie, have a lot of family in eastern Nebraska, including their children, grandchildren and Lane Plugge's mother.

Plugge said being a superintendent, with its long work days, has also increasingly cut into his time with his wife.

“I'd lost the balance between my family and professional life the last couple of years, and I'm trying to get that back,” he said.