Alpine School District superintendent announces retirement; board appoints Rob Smith interim

Dr. Farnsworth, superintendent of the Alpine School District, told the Board of Education on April 29 that he will retire effective Sept. 1, 2026, and the board voted 5–2 to appoint Rob Smith as interim superintendent.

The announcement came during the board’s April 29 meeting when Dr. Farnsworth said, “I am going to publicly inform the board of my retirement that, as of 09/01/2026, I will retire from Alpine School District.” He told the board he and his wife had decided to retire and said he had accepted a teaching position at Brigham Young University in educational leadership and work in the Center for the Improvement of Teaching Educators and Schooling.

The retirement and interim appointment mark a planned leadership transition for the district. Dr. Farnsworth told the board he is proud of the district’s student achievement, the strategic plan implementation and the “momentum” the district has built, and said he was grateful for the trust the board extended to him.

Board President King thanked Dr. Farnsworth on behalf of the board, calling him “a model of personal and district wide excellence” and saying it had been “an absolute privilege.” The board then moved to appoint an interim superintendent. Board Member Petersen moved to appoint Rob Smith; Board Member Beeson seconded. With a recorded vote of 5 in favor and 2 opposed, the motion passed and Rob Smith was appointed interim superintendent.

The board did not specify the length of Smith’s interim term in the meeting record, nor did Dr. Farnsworth state a final working day before his Sept. 1, 2026 retirement date. The meeting closed shortly after the appointment.

Actions recorded in the meeting include the formal appointment of an interim superintendent following Dr. Farnsworth’s public retirement announcement. No other personnel details, search plans for a permanent superintendent, or implementation steps were discussed on the record at this meeting.