SIDNEY — The Fairlawn Local School District is losing its superintendent.

Steve Mascho, who has been the district’s superintendent for 17 years, submitted his retirement resignation to the board of education during a special meeting held Monday, Jan. 4. The resignation was accepted effective Feb. 29, 2016.

In his retirement letter to the board of education Mascho said, “We have assembled a highly-qualified staff that will continue our efforts to help every child in our district succeed. Our district has excellent facilities and is financially sound … I reflect with pride on what everyone who has been a part of the Fairlawn team has been able to accomplish.”

Mascho shared that Fairlawn has been a great place to work.

“I am eternally grateful to the Board that they selected me in 1999 to be their superintendent,” he said via an email about his retirement. “However, my wife Judy and I have decided it is time to move on with our personal lives. We have purchased a condominium in Florida and intend to make it our retirement home. Judy has been retired for 2 1/2 years after 43 years as an educator. Now, I will be able to join her. We are both looking forward to my final retirement.”

Also during the meeting, Heather O’Donnell, superintendent of the Midwest Regional Educational Service Center, gave a presentation on the process of hiring a new superintendent.