MOUNT VERNON — Dave Southward, superintendent of the Knox County Educational Service Center, is retiring after serving 40 years as an educator. The KCESC board on Wednesday granted Southward’s retirement request, effective June 7.

Southward has been superintendent of the KCESC for eight years. Before that he worked for an architectural firm which planned and designed school buildings. Prior to that, he spent 11 years as superintendent of Clear Fork Local Schools before retiring the first time. Before Clear Fork, Southward was assistant superintendent at Morgan Local in McConnelsville for 10 years.

“And way back when, starting in 1970,” he said, “I was principal of Fredericktown High School.”

Board president Richard McLarnan said the board appreciates everything Southward has done to move the ESC forward. Southward, too, is proud of those accomplishments.

“I think that over the time I have been here, the ESC staff and board have taken this operation to a new level,” he said. “With the new facilities and the bigger capacity [in the adult education building of the Knox County Career Center] we have been able to serve the school districts better, meeting their needs in a better way in all areas. We’ve increased our professional development opportunities.

“I think we serve kids very well with the student programs that we have. The Alternative Center has been a particular success, with the number of students now graduating and earning their diplomas. We also have over 250 people on the payroll spread out all over the county.”

Although Southward will not miss what he called “admini-trivia,” he said he will miss the people with whom he works.

“We have such a great working relationship here with the consultants, the staff and the board,” he said. “I get a lot of satisfaction from the people that I work with. That will be hard to give up.”

After retiring, Southward said, he and his wife, Kathy, would “kind of like to travel a little bit.”

“We enjoy Lake Erie and boating,” he added. “Just having more time will be nice. Maybe we’ll develop a ‘bucket list.’”

He said he and Kathy will also welcome the chance to spend more time with their two teenage granddaughters, and may be attending a number of cheerleading events and field hockey games in the future.