EVERETT — The interim superintendent for Marysville School District, Dave Burgess, announced his immediate resignation Monday at the district’s school board meeting.
Burgess cited a desire to return to retirement and spend more time with family, the district said in a release. The board appointed him in October 2024 as interim superintendent. He was set to serve until the end of the 2024-25 school year.
Rumbaugh is the fourth person to hold the superintendent’s seat at the Marysville School District since 2021. She is taking on the role amid severe financial difficulties for the district and an ongoing school closure process.
“The school board thanks Dr. Burgess for his dedication, commitment, and service to the district’s students, staff, and community during some of its most challenging times,” board of directors president Connor Krebbs said in a district release Monday. “We are thankful to have Dr. Rumbaugh step in and continue the path forward. Her knowledge and expertise will serve the district well.”
Over the past decade, enrollment in the district has dropped significantly, from 11,500 students in 2010 to 9,000 students in 2024, according to the district. As the state funds school districts on a per-pupil basis, revenues to the district continued to fall over time. A double levy failure in 2022 exacerbated the district’s financial struggles.
In August 2023, the district entered “binding financial conditions” with the state as it faced a projected $18 million deficit.
In a state audit released in August 2024, auditor Pat McCarthy said the district “did not take the necessary steps to guarantee the District can meet its financial obligations,” and its financial condition is “at an increased risk of being unable to sustain operations or provide sufficient levels of service.”
Later that month, the state superintendent, Chris Reykdal, placed the Marysville School District under enhanced financial oversight and appointed a special administrator, Arthur Jarvis, to oversee the district’s finances.
“I have lost confidence that the district has the decision-making tools or current personnel necessary to fix its financial situation on their own,” Reykdal wrote in August 2024, in a letter to then-superintendent Zachary Robbins. “Despite being faced with significant financial challenges, the district has shown it is unwilling and unable to take appropriate steps or accept responsibility for the current situation.”
The board of directors appointed Burgess in October 2024 after signing a severance agreement with Robbins, less than eight months after the board approved an extension to Robbins’ contract. He was paid over $400,000 as part of a severance package.
A former teacher and superintendent in both Oregon and Washington, Burgess came out of retirement to take on the interim superintendent role with the goal of balancing the district’s 2025-26 budget. Part of that effort included closing schools in order to “right-size” the district to its lower enrollment numbers.
In January 2025, the school board voted to close an elementary and a middle school while reconfiguring elementary schools to kindergarten through sixth grade. Legacy High School, an alternative high school in the district, is also set to be moved to a different campus.
That move is set to save the district about $2.4 million per year, Burgess previously said. He estimated the district will have a positive ending fund balance of nearly $5 million by the end of the year.
Burgess’ tenure was set to end July 1. It will now be up to Rumbaugh and district staff to implement the school closure plan by the start of the 2025-26 school year.
“I am thrilled to say we have an incredible candidate ready to replace me,” Burgess said in a release Monday. “I wholeheartedly encourage the board to employ Dr. Deborah Rumbaugh as the next superintendent. I am confident that under her leadership, the district will be able to continue the important work in place and thrive. My decision to step away now allows the board to appoint a new leader who can seamlessly continue the important work we’ve begun. Dr. Deborah Rumbaugh is that leader.”
Rumbaugh is “deeply invested in this community,” a district release said. Her husband graduated from Marysville Pilchuck High School.
“I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to serve as superintendent in the Marysville School District. I look forward to further getting to know our students, families, staff, and the Marysville and Tulalip communities, and working side by side to continue the important work Dr. Burgess has begun,” she wrote in the release.
Rumbaugh is set to be sworn in on March 17.
Will Geschke: 425-339-3443; william.geschke@heraldnet.com; X: @willgeschke.
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