Incoming Holy Spirit School Division Superintendent Ken Sampson (Photo credit: Holy Spirit School Division)

By Justin Goulet

Education

New Superintendent for Holy Spirit Catholic School Division

May 29, 2019 | 11:49 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – There’s a new Superintendent coming to the Holy Spirit Roman Catholic Separate Regional Division No. 4.

The Board of Trustees has named Ken Sampson to the position. He will also serve as Chief Executive Officer for the division.

Sampson has worked in the field of education for over 30 years, beginning his teaching career with Calgary Catholic Schools, followed by work with the Bahamas Catholic School Board.

From 2007 to 2015, he served in various roles with Holy Spirit in Lethbridge. Board Chair Judy Lane said they’re excited to have him return to the division.

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“He has experience in the senior admin position and is just a friendly guy that will get in and do our schools proud,” she told Lethbridge News Now.

Over the past four years, Sampson has worked with Livingstone Range School Division No. 68. He served as Associate Superintendent of Programs and Services and currently serves as Deputy Superintendent, while overseeing Human Resources and Administrative Services.

Lane added that his prior experience with Holy Spirit will be valuable for this new role.

“In fact, recently we had a feather blessing at Catholic Central (High School) and a lot of the staff that had worked with him previously came up to me and said, ‘oh what a good hire’,” she said.

“When you get that from the workforce itself instead of the people sitting behind desks making decisions, if you know what I mean, it certainly made us feel good as trustees that we had done the right thing and chose the right man…very well respected by so many.”

Current Superintendent Chris Smeaton has put his retirement on hold until Christmastime to help Sampson become adjusted to the new position.

“We’re very fortunate that Chris has decided to, you know, stay and be an anchor, because our Deputy Superintendent (Brian Macauley) has retired as well, as of June 30^th,” Lane said, adding that eventually they will be looking to bring on a new Deputy Superintendent.

“There’s lots going on in our division.”

Lane said in the beginning, when they first learned both the Deputy and Superintendent, the Board was a little flustered, Smeaton stepped up to help make the transition smoother.

Ken Sampson’s term as Superintendent will start on Monday, January 6, 2020.