WALDPORT — Michael Gass, who is retiring in June as superintendent of a small school district in Colorado, has been named the new principal of Crestview Heights Elementary School in Waldport.
He replaces Libba Sager, who is retiring.
Gass, 53, is leaving after five years of leading the Telluride School District in Telluride, Colo., a winter ski and summer tourist town in the Rocky Mountains of southwest Colorado. Gass started as a teacher and coach in Greeley, Colo. before working 23 years as a teacher and administrator in the Eagle County School District near Vail.
“We are thrilled to have Mr. Gass joining the Lincoln County School District administrative team,” said Superintendent Karen Gray. “With his years of experience and proven leadership within all grade levels of education, we know he will be a great fit for Crestview Heights Elementary school and we look forward to working with him when school resumes.”
Crestview Heights has about 335 students in kindergarten through sixth grade.
Telluride, with 700 students and four buildings, was consistently one of the top-performing school districts in Colorado.
Gass was one of two finalists to become superintendent of the schools in Centralia, Wash. in January, but was not chosen. When he announced his Telluride retirement, Gass told a news outlet there that he and his wife planned to move to a home they owned on the Oregon coast.
