Members of the Fayetteville School Board are on the lookout for a new superintendent much more quickly than anyone expected.

Vicki Thomas’ resignation this week comes as a surprise to many in the community the district serves. She’s been superintendent since 2009, when she replaced a retiring superintendent who had been at the helm for 13 years. She had previously worked in the Pasadena (Texas) School District fornearly 29 years.

Between 1942 and Thomas’ hiring, five men - Virgil Blossom, Wayne White, Harry Vandergriff, Winston Simpson and Bobby New - averaged 13-year terms in charge of what is today the state’s ninth-largest school district, according to the research of district spokesman Alan Wilbourn. From 1904 to 1942, the position was held by one man, F.S. Root.

Sometimes, however, life gets in the way.

Thomas said in her letter of resignation she and her husband are choosing to return to Texas under circumstances familiar to many in her age group: an ailing parent in the Lone Star State requires a level of care one cannot easily manage from hundreds of miles away.

It is an unfortunate development on a personal level, no doubt, but also for the Fayetteville School District, which loses a leader who has demonstrated a commitment to the best interests of the students accessing the public education system in Fayetteville.

We bid her a premature farewell with good wishes. She will continue working through the end of her contract, which expires June 30. Her January resignation notice is timed so the school board has the opportunity to find a replacement.

As with coaches in the NFL and other sports, there is a season, more or less, when superintendents become available for hiring. Thomas has given the board a good chance to shop around.

And with that, the job of board members suddenly becomes hugely significant again. The person the seven board members select will lead the day-to-day operation of the community’s education system. It is one of the most important decisions they will make for the future of young people in Fayetteville.

Thomas’ time in Fayetteville was marked with major change, such as a campaign for a property tax increase to pay for a new, expanded high school, implementation of the Common Core curriculum and decisions about realignment of grades, to name a few. The challenges ahead will no doubt be major, too, so the board has to get selection of the next superintendent right.

Along with the top jobs in other major districts in Northwest Arkansas, Fayetteville’s superintendent post is a marquee position that should draw plenty of interest. Hopefully, board members are prepared to demonstrate why the job can be one of the best in education in all of Arkansas.

Four of the sitting board members were in on Thomas’ hire, so the board has some experience at how to approach the task.

Thanks to Vicki Thomas for her contributions to a district working hard to excel, and we wish the school board well in its pursuit of the next great leader of Fayetteville Public Schools.

Opinion, Pages 5 on 01/16/2014