Kyle Schumacher, the Telluride R-1 School District Superintendent since 2011, announced his resignation in an e-mail on Friday morning to school staff and parents.

Schumacher will serve through the end of the school year and formally leave the position on June 30, 2015. He cited personal reasons as the cause of his decision to leave Telluride.

“My parents have experienced continued health issues, including a return of the cancer my father was diagnosed with around seven years ago. The challenge of living many states away has proven difficult on our family here and in Illinois. In order to accommodate the needs of my family and to be closer to my parents during this time, I made a decision to return to my home state of Illinois,” Schumacher wrote in an e-mail to school staff and parents.

He will be starting a new role as the superintendent of the LaGrange School District Board in LaGrange, Illinois — a suburb of Chicago — on July 1, 2015. That school district has 3,100 students in grades K-8.

Reached by phone on Friday, Schumacher said the highlights of his time as superintendent included the passage of two bond measures that support the expansion and improvement of the school system.

A mill levy was approved by voters in 2012 that supported teacher training, technology improvements and innovative learning programs. Another $24 million bond measure passed earlier this year, funding the construction of improved facilities and new classrooms in the school district.

Schumacher also cited the dual-immersion Spanish-English program in preschool and kindergarten as one of his highlights, as well as the integration of technology in the classroom.

“We have enjoyed the four years here. It’s been thrilling to live in this community and to work with the staff and the parents. It’s been a pleasure. We’ll miss that as we move on to our next adventure,” Schumacher said.

Schumacher grew up in southern Illinois and attended the University of Illinois before teaching music in various capacities and eventually advancing to a leadership position in a Lake Forest, Illinois school district. He made the move to Telluride’s superintendent position after rising to assistant superintendent in Illinois.

“Dr. Schumacher will be missed personally and professionally in our community. I have tremendous respect for him as a professional educator and visionary leader and the LaGrange schools are lucky to have him,” Telluride R-1 School District Board of Education President Paul Reich said in a statement. “We will continue working closely with him to advance our schools and further the goals we’ve developed over the past four years and continue to provide a quality education to our students through that time.” 

The Board of Education expects to begin the search for a new superintendent in January.

“I am optimistic that we will see highly qualified applicants come forward given our district’s reputation across the state, our dedicated and highly effective staff and teachers, the high performance of our students, and the strong community support for our schools,” Vice President of the Board of Education Cheryl Miller said in a statement.