Clovis Unified Superintendent Eimear O’Brien is retiring at the end of the school year after six years as the high-achieving school district’s leader.

O’Brien, 59, made the announcement Thursday at a late-morning news conference. The decision to leave wasn’t easy, she shared, but the need to take care of her aging mother in her native country of Ireland pushed her to step down.

“It is a very challenging decision,” she said, “given the fact that this has truly been the greatest privilege of my life, serving as the leader of the Clovis Unified School District.”

O’Brien was joined by the district’s Board President David DeFrank, who thanked O’Brien for her years of service and said the board will hold a special meeting Monday to outline steps toward finding her replacement.

“Her retirement is going to be a difficult time for us,” DeFrank said.

“She’s a friend of ours,” he added, “and we acknowledge that she needs to make the decisions that are right for her and for her family. She will be leaving with our full support and our encouragement.”

DeFrank declined to answer specifically whether the district will look for an internal or external recruit to replace O’Brien, stating the board will determine the timeline, criteria, and procedure for finding the next superintendent at Monday’s meeting.

He did tell reporters that he expects the district will solicit input from the community on the decision and won’t appoint an interim superintendent before finding a permanent replacement.

“I anticipate that we’re going to want as broad of an applicant pool as possible,” he said. “But, as Dr. O’Brien has pointed out, there are some unique qualities that come from being part of this school district. And that’s going to be a factor, as are a lot of others.”

A district news release stated the board expects to appoint someone before the end of O’Brien’s tenure in June.

While she’ll split her time between Ireland and the U.S., O’Brien said she plans to “be there” to help transition her successor into the superintendent role once a candidate is chosen.

Six years of service

O’Brien was named superintendent May 30, 2017 to replace the retiring Janet Young who was appointed superintendent in 2011. Young replaced yet another Clovis Unified superintendent to retire, David Cash, who’d served only a two-year term.

The length of O’Brien’s term is an increasing rarity in the world of K-12 superintendents across the country, who experienced higher rates of turnover in the age of pandemic politics. Although O’Brien began her term a few months before Fresno Unified Superintendent Bob Nelson, his term is poised to outlast O’Brien’s after his recent contract extension.

Between teaching, working as a principal, and serving in the district’s highest office, O’Brien racked up 26 years in the district, two-thirds of her 39 years in education. She started off as a teacher in her home country of Ireland, and then at Our Lady of Victory Elementary in Fresno, before joining Clovis Unified as a third-grade teacher at Maple Creek Elementary School in 1996, according to a district biography.

In the ensuing 26 years, O’Brien served at both the elementary and secondary level as a teacher, GIS, learning director, elementary principal at Valley Oak Elementary, deputy principal and principal at Clovis West High School, and area superintendent of the Clovis West Area before her appointment as superintendent.

During her tenure, Clovis Unified schools’ notable achievements include:

• 3 National Blue Ribbon Awards

• 13 California Distinguished School Awards

• 1 Model Continuation School Award

• 5 National Schools to Watch Awards

• 28 California Pivotal Practice Awards in 2022

• 54 Honor Roll School Recognitions

• 43 Bonner Character Awards

• 51 Positive Behavior Interventions & Support Awards

• 41 Statewide Civic Learning Awards

Another highlight of her time as superintendent: in 2020 district voters approved a $335 million facility bond now being used on construction of new schools and modernizations.

O’Brien pointed to the bond measure as well as the district’s recent test scores as reasons she believes the district is poised to weather a transition in the coming months.

“It’s never easy to make a decision like this,” she said. “But as I’ve been reflecting, our district is on very sound footing, having navigated a worldwide pandemic and looking at the amazing work that our education team is engaged in, meeting the ... post-pandemic needs of our students.”

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