Eimear O'Brien image via CUSD

Clovis Unified School District (CUSD) Superintendent Eimear O’Brien announced Thursday her plans to retire at the end of the school year.

O’Brien moved to the Valley from Ireland in 1993, taking a teaching position at Our Lady of Victory Elementary School in Fresno. Prior to moving to the Valley, O’Brien taught in Dublin.

Between her time in Ireland and the Valley, O’Brien will retire with 39 years in the education field. The decision was announced to the CUSD board on Wednesday.

“This decision does not come easily,” O’Brien said in a press conference Thursday. “Serving our employees, our students and the community of this incredible school district has been the greatest privilege of my life.”

O’Brien said her decision to step down was influenced by the position that CUSD currently finds itself in, having taken large steps in recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. She intends to return to Ireland to care for her 85-year-old mother.

“My Clovis Unified family and this community will always hold a special place in my heart, but my role as a daughter to my mother in Ireland is calling to me as well,” she continued. “I recognize that it is time for me to play a larger role in caring for my aging parent.”

Governing Board President David DeFrank announced a search for O’Brien’s replacement will begin immediately.

“Dr. O’Brien has been an exemplary superintendent whose level-headed leadership has guided our District through unprecedented challenges, including a global pandemic,” DeFrank said. “She is a selfless, graceful and effective administrator who leaves behind a decades-long legacy of putting first the needs of students and our Clovis Unified team.”

During her time at CUSD, O’Brien taught elementary and secondary levels and worked as a geographic information system (GIS) and learning director. She also served as principal at Valley Oak Elementary and deputy principal and principal at Clovis West High School. O’Brien spent time as an area superintendent for Clovis West prior to her appointment to superintendent in 2017.

O’Brien earned her doctoral degree in 2010.