MARYSVILLE A school superintendent from a Cottage Grove, Ore. school system was selected Superintendent of the Year last week by a national education group. She was one of four finalists, including Marysville School District Superintendent Larry Nyland, in the running for the award.
Krista Parent is the head of the South Lane School District near Salem, where the 45-year-old has spent her entire 23-year career. She was selected by the American Association of School Administrators at their national conference in New Orleans, La. on March 2. Marysville schools superintendent Larry Nyland was one of four nominees selected from 50 state superintendents of the year, including Susan Andrews from Hamilton, Georgia and Brenda Dietrich of a Topeka, Kansas schools system.
Nyland was honored to be selected as one of the final four and Marysville School District staff said they were extremely proud of their boss. Nyland led the largest district and had the shortest tenure of the final four; there are more high school students in Marysville than in Parents 2,900-student district.
Parent is the 20th recipient of the honor, awarded by AASA and co-sponsor ARAMARK Education, a schools cafeteria contractor. Parent is an Oregon native, raised in Central Point, near Medford, and her three academic degrees are all from the University of Oregon. She attributed her success to longevity in the same district, where she started as a physical education teacher and worked her way up the ladder.