A retirement reception for Duane and Melanie Merideth was well attended May 1 at Durant High School.
Numerous current and former educators stopped by to wish the Merideths well in their retirement.
Mr. Merideth announced in February that he is retiring as superintendent of the Durant School District effective July 1, which is the end of his contract for the 2023-2024 school year. Mrs. Merideth is retiring as the Vision Academy counselor.
Superintendent Merideth has served 40 years in education, including previously being Durant Middle School principal, Durant High School principal, Durant Intermediate School principal and superintendent of Rock Creek Schools. He was named Durant Superintendent in 2014.
Merideth spoke during a Monday meeting of the Durant Board of Education and expressed appreciation for the reception and also a bench that was placed at Durant High School in honor of the Merideths.
“Thank you to our board and to this community for the reception that we had for my wife and I” Merideth said. “It was overwhelming, folks. It completely overwhelmed us and we are so appreciative and thankful for the time we’ve lived here and had the opportunity to serve. So thank you all so much, especially for the bench, that’s wonderful. Thank you all so much for everything that you do.“ Board member Joyce Northcutt thanked Merideth for his service.
“We appreciate you so much,” she said. “Somebody said you’ve set the bar really high with somebody coming in here and we just appreciate everything you’ve done. You know, not just for the board, but for every student that’s here. You’ve shown love and Melanie has, too. So many of those kids have gone on and done great things and we appreciate it because it’s from the guidance that you give us.”
School board Vice-President Paul Buntz said, “I would echo what Joyce said and say that you made our job easy because you have everything lined out.”
The board of education had a meeting scheduled May 8 after the Democrat’s deadline to vote on hiring one of the superintendent candidates.
