Karleen Stephens to retire
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Green Hills AEA Superintendents’ Association chair Angie Huseman (right) presents Diagonal superintendent Karleen Stephens with a plaque of recognition for her 45 years of leadership and service in education.
January 1, 2023 will mark a milestone in the Ringgold County educational community as Diagonal’s Karleen Stephens will step down after 45 years as a teacher, principal, and superintendent.
Following her graduation with the Diagonal Class of 1973, Stephens earned her degree in elementary education from Northwest Missouri State University in 1977. In the fall of that year, she began her teaching career in the Stanton Community Schools.
In the summer of 1978, she married her husband John Stephens and that fall began teaching sixth grade at Diagonal following the retirement of long-time teacher Louise Kessler. Through the years Stephens taught several grade levels and eventually served as a part-time elementary principal for four or five years.
The door to her current position opened with the departure of long-term superintendent Dennis Tassel.
“Then we just had a succession of a lot of different superintendents that would just stay a year or two,” Stephens recalled. “And that was kind of wearing on us, our school. You don’t get any flow or continuity. So they asked both Larry Teply [secondary principal] and me, either or both, if we would be interested in getting our superintendent certification. Larry declined, and I said, yes. So that’s, like, 22 years ago.”
Stephens served as combined elementary principal and superintendent up until last year when Larry McNutt was hired as K-12 principal.
A key challenge Stephens faced as a new superintendent was keeping track of finances.
“In a small school, your finances have to be perfect, right?” she said. “That’s always our big challenge is you’ve got to keep your budgets correct… how to distribute the bills, what accounts they should come out of; that’s everything because most school budgets run pretty tight. You have to make sure that your community sees the value in having your school because if they don’t support you, emotionally, physically and financially, you’re not going to be there.”
Stephens credits the Diagonal community, her school board members, and her staff for her success as a superintendent.
“I think I get more credit than I deserve because, yeah, I’ve done some things right and probably done some things wrong, but it’s really about Diagonal. It’s all about the community,” she said. “You know, when they still back you and come to events and help you finance things, we couldn’t do it without them.”
“My boards have been exceptional,” she continued. “The board was always very supportive. In some schools, sometimes the board members secretly want to be superintendents. I’ve never had that – ever… Now they don’t rubber stamp everything. And they ask questions. If your board is cohesive, that helps. So yeah, I’ve had really good school boards – that makes your job easy.”
Stephens cited her staff for creating the collegial atmosphere of the Diagonal
