Cedar Rapids school board to offer Noreen Bush permanent superintendent job

CEDAR RAPIDS - The Cedar Rapids school board plans to offer Noreen Bush, its interim superintendent, the permanent role in a special 5:30 p.m. meeting Wednesday.

Bush would be the Cedar Rapids Community School District's first woman superintendent in district history, according to a district news release.

'The offer to serve the students, staff, and families of our great district is one I am deeply honored to accept,” Bush said in a news release. 'There is so much we can celebrate, thanks to the work of our staff in collaboration with our families, and there is so much work yet to be done. It will be an honor and joy to steward this work as Superintendent of Schools.”

The board appointed Bush interim superintendent last summer. She previously worked as the district's associate and deputy superintendent. According to the district, she is the only internal hire for the district's top position.

'The plan had certainly been to consider a more traditional superintendent search or hiring plan,” school board President Nancy Humbles said in a release. 'But it became unquestionably clear to us that Noreen Bush is precisely the right superintendent for our district at this time. How lucky are we that she is already here? And the fact that she's also a product of our school district is icing on the cake.”

Born in Detroit, Bush moved to Cedar Rapids as a child before her family relocated to Houston and then returned. She, like her predecessor Brad Buck, is a Jefferson High School graduate.

A three-year contract is on the board agenda Wednesday. In her interim capacity, Bush was paid about $176,800 annually.

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