FARMINGTON—After only six months since coming back to the Davis School District, Assistant Superintendent Dr. Jackie Thompson is retiring. The district made the announcement Tuesday afternoon that they would be looking for someone to fill her role.

This isn’t the first unexpected retirement from district administration. Reid Newey surprised the Board of Education and district staff in January when he announced his retirement after five years as superintendent. Newey led the district through some tough challenges with the pandemic and a Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation that found there was widespread racial discrimination throughout the district. Dr. Dan Linford was recently appointed as the new superintendent.

Thompson came back to the district in December 2021 as assistant superintendent after originally retiring in 2017. Her responsibilities included working on diversity and equity issues and overseeing what was needed to meet the requirements set by the DOJ agreement. 

Since taking the post, Thompson has led efforts to:

• Create an Office of Equal Opportunity, name a director, establish three district-level coordinators and hire five school-level coordinators to receive, investigate and resolve complaints of racial harassment and discrimination.

• Hire a third-party consultant, the “Safeguarding Group,” to assist the district with equity work.

• Partner with Hill Air Force Base Installation Commander of the 75th Air Base Wing Col. Jenise Carroll, Utah First Lady Abby Cox and Davis County Commissioner Bob Stevenson in community-wide efforts to increase inclusion and end discrimination and racism.

• Join with interfaith leaders across the Wasatch Front to eliminate racial harassment in Utah.

• Strengthen the district’s partnership with the NAACP and community leaders.

• Establish a “No More, Not Here” campaign throughout the Davis School District schools in an effort to end racism, bullying and harassment of any kind.

• Assist in the creation of discrimination and harassment complaint procedures in existing school board policy.

• Facilitate the creation of central reporting and management system through which all complaints of harassment and discrimination would be filed and recorded with the Office of Equal Opportunity.

Thompson has received numerous awards throughout her career, among them an honorary doctorate degree from the University of Utah at commencement May 5. 

“Dr. Thompson came out of retirement to help the district. And whenever Jackie does something, she puts her whole heart and soul into that effort, and she did exactly that during the six months she was here,” said Chris Williams, Director of Communication & Operations for the district. “She just felt it was time to return home, be with her family and do things that those who choose to retire enjoy doing.”

“We love Dr. Thompson and appreciate everything she has done for us,” said Davis School District Superintendent Dr. Dan Linford in a statement. “First, her true love and kindness for all people is a standard we all wish to emulate. Second, the dedication, hard work and care she models for all of our staff and students has been inspiring. And lastly, she has truly helped build a foundation for us to successfully move forward and accomplish the work that’s before us.”

“We thank her from the bottom of our hearts for everything she did for us,” Williams said. “She’s a fantastic person and we wish her the very, very best.” λ