Lakewood schools superintendent announces retirement

LAKEWOOD — Dennis Haddock, superintendent of the Lakewood School District, is retiring April 18.

Haddock has been superintendent for the past nine years, and has worked in public schools for 33 years.

Haddock, 57, started his career as a school psychologist in the Olympia School District, and later held the same position in the Mukilteo and Mount Vernon districts. He then went on to work as special programs director in the Anacortes and Mukilteo districts, executive director at the Lake Stevens School District, and was hired as assistant superintendent in Lakewood in 2005.

Haddock said he plans to take his accrued vacation time this spring, rather than cash out at the end of the year.

Michael Mack, currently the director of Student Services and Career and Technical Education for the district and assistant principal at Lakewood Middle School, has been appointed as Haddock’s interim replacement for the remainder of the year.

Haddock said he has no immediate plans for either his vacation or subsequent job opportunities.

While Haddock applied for the job of superintendent in the Marysville School District last year, he said it was an appealing opportunity at the time, but that K-12 education was probably not in his future.

“I’m not interested in any kind of a (lateral) shift. I’m retiring,” Haddock said.

The district is currently developing a process and schedule to seek a permanent replacement.

Chris Winters: 425-374-4165 or cwinters@heraldnet.com.

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