The 66-year-old former Ohio superintendent of the year told this news organization he has notified the West Carrollton board of education of his decision to resign this summer.
Clifford, whose annual salary is about $145,000, said he plans Feb. 1 to submit a letter announcing his intent.
The decision follows the November passage of an operating levy several months after voters rejected a ballot issue. It was the first new taxes voters in the district – which includes West Carrollton, parts of Miami Twp. and Moraine – approved in nearly a decade and came amid projected budget deficits.
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The 5.5-mill, five-year tax hike restored busing cuts and eliminated a plan to cut at least 20 teaching jobs.
“It’s time,” Clifford said of his decision. “I’ve enjoyed every minute every place I’ve been. West Carrollton is in a great place right now. We just passed that levy.
“We’ve got a tremendous board of education, tremendous leadership in our buildings, phenomenal staff. So we’re solid across the board,” he added.
There are also “great relationships with our associations, great partnerships with … Moraine, West Carrollton and the township,” Clifford said. “It will be a great hand off to whoever that next person is.”
The process for replacing is unclear as attempts to reach West Carrollton school board members Friday afternoon were unsuccessful.
Clifford’s 19 years in leading West Carrollton schools is about five times the average job length — about four years — for superintendents in Ohio. In 2013, he was named Ohio Superintendent of the Year by the Buckeye Association of School Administrators.
Clifford spent nearly two decades in the Kettering school system, including stints teaching at Indian Riffle Elementary, Van Buren Junior High and Fairmont East High School.
He spent several years as a principal, three each at Moraine Meadows and Indian Riffle elementaries before moving to Kettering Middle School.
He earned his doctorate in educational leadership from the University of Dayton in 1998 before assuming his current job.
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