Salina Public Schools
Salina Public Schools’ (SPS) Superintendent Linn Exline has announced she is retiring at the end of the 2024-25 school year. At its regular meeting on December 10, the board of education accepted her resignation and began to discuss how they will move forward with filling the superintendent position.
“On behalf of the Board of Education and as a former student, I thank Mrs. Exline for her dedicated service to Salina Public Schools and her community,” said Gabe Grant, board president. “In each post she has held in the district, it has been clear that Linn’s goal is to make Salina Public Schools the best place to learn and work. From leading a community-wide effort crafting a new, cohesive vision and mission at the start of her superintendency to introducing initiatives to increase student success and supporting teachers in the classroom, Mrs. Exline leaves us on a path of continuous improvement as we look to the future and begin the search for a new leader. I am so excited for Linn and her family as they embark on a new chapter of life.”
Exline was raised in Salina, graduated from SPS and committed her entire 33-year career in education to USD 305. Her leadership reached beyond managing the internal workings of the school district; she aligned the district with community expectations, always with a clear focus on what is best for the students. During 15 Strategic Plan Listening Sessions, she collected more than 3,000 comments from community members, staff and students. These insights formed the foundation for a new vision, mission statement, and strategic goals adopted by the SPS Board of Education in 2020.
After the listening sessions ended, Exline continued the face-to-face conversations through SPS Coffee Chats with staff, students and community members.
Under her leadership, the district received a Gold Medallion award in 2023 and a Golden Achievement award in 2024 from the National School Public Relations Association. Exline is on the Saline County Health Advisory Council, is a board member of the Kansas/Missouri Superintendent Forum and is a member of the Kansas Commissioner of Education’s Superintendent Advisory Council. She delivered multiple community and state-level presentations and participated in Leadership for Tomorrow (2022-23) and Business Operations Leadership Development (2021-22) programs. Over the last two years she has collaborated with a small group of Kansas superintendents to lead a statewide Did You Know campaign to raise awareness about public schools in Kansas. The lawsuit filed against the federal government for remediation of contaminants left behind from Schilling Air Force Base was resolved during Exline’s tenure as superintendent.
She received the Kansas Thespians Conference Administrators Award in 2013, was recognized for her educational leadership by the Kansas Association of Secondary School Principals Area III in 2012 and was selected as USD 305 Elementary Teacher of the Year in 1995. Her career with USD 305 included roles as executive director of school improvement (teaching and learning), high school principal, director of staff development and accreditation, elementary principal, math and science K-12 curriculum specialist and elementary teacher.
Despite the increasing complexities of a school superintendent's role, Exline's decisions have always been guided by one principle - what is in the best interest of the students. Her vision and leadership have established positive momentum in the district that will ensure its continued success in years to come.
“As the Board of Education maps out the search process for our next Superintendent, the Board and Mrs. Exline will continue our focus on our respective roles in leading the district,” said Grant. “What our faculty and staff do every school day in every classroom in Salina Public Schools has incredible energy behind it. I speak for my fellow board members when I say we look forward to naming our new leader and not missing a beat in our work, making our community’s vision for Salina Public Schools being the best place to learn and work a reality.”