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SALT LAKE CITY — The Salt Lake City School District's new superintendent has been placed on paid administrative leave just one year after taking the position.
A spokeswoman for the school district confirmed the move Tuesday, but would not provide details regarding Timothy Gadson III being placed on leave.
The Salt Lake City School District Board of Education held a private meeting last week, on July 7, to discuss the "character, professional competence or physical or mental health of an individual, and/or deployment of security personnel, devices or systems," according to an agenda for that meeting.
It was unclear Tuesday if that meeting is connected with Gadson being placed on leave.
In an email to district employees, a spokeswoman said Alan Kearsley, the district's business administrator, would be taking a "supervisory lead" at the district. Kearsley is not serving as interim superintendent, however, according to the email. The message to employees also did not disclose a reason for Gadson being placed on leave.
Gadson was selected superintendent of the school district in February 2021 following a nationwide search. He previously served as associate superintendent of high schools with Anoka-Hennepin Schools in a Minneapolis suburb.
Gadson is the first Black educator selected to lead a Utah school district. The Salt Lake City School District offered him a two-year contract beginning in July 2021.
He is the third superintendent of the Salt Lake district in roughly three years. Long-time Salt Lake educator and administrator Larry Madden served as interim superintendent starting in July 2020, when former Superintendent Lexi Cunningham stepped down at the end of the 2019-20 school year after experiencing friction with the school board. The district's business administrator also stepped down.
Asked last year why the Salt Lake superintendency piqued his interest professionally, Gadson said he has aspired to lead a diverse, urban school district. Ethnic minorities make up more than half of the Salt Lake district's student population.
Board President Melissa Ford said last year the board chose Gadson because he "stood out for his focus on putting students first. In a district with so much diversity, robust academic programming and a wide variety of student needs, we need a leader who will keep the focus where it needs to be: on our students."
He received his bachelor's degree in business economics and secondary education from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University in Tallahassee, Florida, and his master's and doctorate degrees from Washington State University in Pullman, Washington.
He served as an assistant principal and principal at various levels in Broward County and Palm Beach County in Florida. He was also district director of secondary education while employed with Palm Beach County School District. He also led reform and transformation efforts at several high schools in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with a private firm from 2010-12.
Gadson supervised high school operations for the Austin Independent School District in Texas, served as associate superintendent with Atlanta Public Schools and was executive director of curriculum and schools with Robbinsdale Area Schools in New Hope, Minnesota.
