Assistant Superintendent Scott Sostarich will be taking over the reigns on January 19 as Superintendent. This past October at the DISD board meeting, the board of trustees voted and named him as the Lone Finalist for the Superintendent position.

“The district is very great and moving in a forward direction, my goal is to keep moving forward,” Sostarich said, “as new things come up I will work with the board of the district to resolve things.”

Scott Sostarich has been in the district for 11 years. He has recently been working under current Superintendent Linda McAnelly, as the Assistant Superintendent.

“Scott and I have worked together for 10 years. He is what I would say is “Totally in”,” McAnelly said, “He has shared in the vision and he knows the direction and process”.

Mrs. McAnelly will step down as the Superintendent in January. It is a rule that you can only retire in August or January. Although January is in the middle of the year Mrs. McAnelly had a valid reason behind picking January

“I decided to step down in January because it gave me another years credit,” McAnelly said, “now I will have 41 years.”

Most people retire and stay home and enjoy not having to go into work every day. However, retirement for Mrs. McAnelly is a totally different thing. She is planning to start her own business.

“I’m starting an Education Consultant Firm,” McAnelly said, “I still hope to work with school boards, and district administration, coaching them through problems.”

Mrs. McAnelly has been in the school district for 34 years. She was an English teacher for 25 years, and an assistant superintendent for 15 years. She has been in Devine for quite some time and will be missed.

“It’s incredible to work where you live and be around so many generations of families over the years,” McAnelly said.

It’s hard to live in a small town and not get attatched to people. Devine is known for leaving a lasting impression even on people who were here for a short amount of time. Working with all of these people for so long like Mrs. McAnelly you can easily fall in love with the area.

“I feel like I have deep roots here. I really do think it is a small town with big heart,” McAnelly said, ”If I could, I would do it all over again.”