New superintendent begins work at Iowa City schools

Between Wednesday and Thursday mornings, Stephen Murley moved to Iowa City from Wisconsin, closed on his new home and started a new job.

Now the stressful part starts: Leading the 11,900-student, and growing, Iowa City school district.

Thursday was Murley's first day as the district's superintendent, taking over for Lane Plugge, who left for another job after 11 years as the head of Iowa City schools.

“There's a huge amount of excitement coming in. New opportunities, new challenges,” Murley said. “Simultaneously, there's always the apprehension of coming into a new working environment and establishing the relationships that you know are key to the success of you in that role.”

Murley, 43, comes from the Wausau school district in Wisconsin, where he was superintendent the past five years.

Meeting people will take up much of his first days here, Murley said. He said that one of many helpful pieces of advice he received from Plugge was names of people in the community who are involved with K-12 education and can help him get acquainted with the district.

Murley said the people he has talked with and met since he accepted the job in late-April have reinforced what attracted him to the opening in the first place: The interest people in this community take in and importance they place on education.

Murley said he knows that he also has to get right to work on the issues facing the district. In his tweak to a familiar phrase, he said he has to “hit the ground learning.”

He expects planning for redistricting, and the companion issue of eventually building a third high school, to be among the subjects that require his immediate attention.

Murley also is balancing the changes in his personal life. He arrived in town Wednesday and closed on his new home Thursday morning.

The house is near Weber Elementary, where two of his sons, entering third and sixth grade, will attend. A third son is in college.

Murley will be the first superintendent in a while to have children in the district, something mentioned as a plus by some people.

“I always tell people that while many of the things that we (school officials) discuss may be seen in somewhat abstract tendencies, when I see them, I see them face to face in a three-dimensional format every night at dinner,” Murley said.

Murley's wife, Darci, and the boys are staying in Wisconsin until youth sports wraps up later this month. Darci Murley works at a technical college in Wausau teaching alternative high school students seeking their high school equivalency diplomas.

She will help the family settle into Iowa City their first year here, but Murley expects her to soon be looking for a job.

Murley's three-year contract with the district pays him $184,000 annually, plus $20,000 toward a tax-sheltered annuity and a $7,000 vehicle allowance each year.