Linn-Mar Superintendent Amy Kortemeyer to retire

MARION — Linn-Mar Community School District Superintendent Amy Kortemeyer is retiring at the end of the school year.

Kortemeyer shared her plans to retire Friday in an email with families in the district. She will have led the district for three academic years by the time she retires June 30, 2026.

“Working for the Linn-Mar Community School District for almost 10 of those 32 years, and as your superintendent for the last several, has truly been one of the greatest honors of my life,” Kortemeyer said in an email shared with The Gazette. “As I shared with our staff earlier this afternoon, I’ve found the rewards of working in education to be greater than the challenges. Time and time again I am impressed with the dedication of those in our field and in this district to keep our focus on students and provide them with a world class education. It’s been my privilege to work alongside them at Linn-Mar to support our students and families.”

School board President Katie Lowe Lancaster in a statement said the board will “evaluate our next steps in the upcoming weeks.”

“Superintendent Kortemeyer has informed us of her intention to retire at the end of the school year. The Linn-Mar board of directors would like to thank her for her dedication to education and decades of service to our students and others in Eastern Iowa, and we wish her well,” Lowe Lancaster said.

Under Kortemeyer’s leadership, the district continued to expand its project-based learning opportunities offered through its Venture Academics program.

Kortemeyer lead the district through the remainder of a five-year facility plan that began with her predecessor Shannon Bisgard.

The plan included construction of a new administration building, a larger performance venue — which is expected to open soon — and an indoor activities center added to the high school.

In August, the Linn-Mar school board approved a $3.6 million contract with OPN Architects to continue the design phase for the activities center and other improvements. The added facility space not only will benefit the hundreds of students in Linn-Mar’s athletics but also physical education classes and community youth programs.

Other projects completed under the facility plan include an eight-court tennis complex and renovations to the former Learning Resource Center to become classroom spaces.

In October, school leaders began taking steps to create a new 10-year facility plan, hiring contractors to begin facilities assessments and a district-wide enrollment projection analysis.

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