LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Posted May 16, 2024

Dear Editor:

On June 28, 2024, I will retire.  I will have completed 9 years as the CUSD 15 superintendent and 33 years of my public-school career.  It went by very quickly!  I have told friends, and now I will tell all of you, that this has been the best 9 years of my career. 

I moved my family here in July of 2015 excited to take on a new position that I hoped would allow me to grow professionally and as a person.  I will say that the experience did not disappoint me, and I sure hope it did not disappoint any of you either.  I got to share my perspective on leadership and my faith.

I want to express my gratitude to the board that hired me back in December of 2014.  They had confidence in me to do the work and let me operate the district accordingly.  I can’t express how much their support meant to me.  I want to express my gratitude toward those that have served on the board since then, who also gave me the same support.  The board in place today has been an outstanding group with which to work.  We went through a tough couple of years together during the pandemic, but I knew I had their support every day.

I have gotten to know many great people over my time working for CUSD 15.  The teachers and support staff have been great as we have tried new things and strived for improvement every year.  Again, we survived two tough years together as well.  I will never forget that!

The administration team changed a little bit from 2015 until today.  I have enjoyed working with all of them as individuals and as a team.  I truly believe we all helped each other during our time together.  The Unit Office staff has changed over since 2015.  They are a wonderful group of people who have supported me to the utmost each day.  I miss those that started with me and retired before me.

I appreciate my friends in the local media who were probably too good to me at times.  Local law enforcement has been a wonderful partner as well, and I could list numerous community agencies and dignitaries with whom I’ve worked.

Lastly, from my wife Jody and me to the community of Clinton, we thank you for the immediate embrace of our family when we moved here.  My youngest son was half way through high school when we moved.  Who does that to their kid?!  The community and his classmates made him feel welcome immediately and allowed us to exhale.  It also allowed us to add to our family. 

I’ve made so many good friends in the business community while doing business, being a member of Rotary and working with city and county government.  I never met any resistance because the entities all worked together for the betterment of the community.  

I can’t think of a better place to have ended my career, and a better place to live in retirement.  Although my job at the district is ending, Jody and I will still be living here in the place that made us feel like we were at home.  I will see you around town.  God bless!

Curt Nettles
Supt. Clinton CUSD 15
Clinton, IL 61727