State school chief Larry Shumway to retire

SALT LAKE CITY — After three years on the job, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Larry Shumway announced Friday that he will retire effective Jan. 1, 2013. An immediate search will begin to find a replacement.

Shumway, 58, of Stansbury Park, took over the position from Patti Harrington in July 2009 after having served as deputy state superintendent, the head of educator licensing at the Utah State Office of Education, superintendent of the Tooele School District, as well as director of alternative schools and programs in the Davis School District.

Shumway earned his doctorate in education at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas in 1993 and received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from BYU.

“It has been an honor and a pleasure to serve Utahns and the great educators we have in this state,” Shumway said. “It was always my intent to leave Utah’s public school system in better shape for the future and I believe our students are being better prepared for the future.”