Prescott School District Superintendent Dr. Rick Spicuzza announced his plan to retire at the end of the 2024-25 school year on June 30, 2025. Dr. Spicuzza served the Prescott School system for 10 years.

Dr. Spicuzza joined Prescott School District in July 2015 after a distinguished education career in Minnesota. He attained his M.A. and Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the University of Minnesota and held administrative positions, primarily in curriculum and assessment, with Minneapolis Public Schools, South Washington Co. Schools and Mounds View Public Schools.

“I grew up in a family that modeled the importance of education. Neither of my paternal grandparents was educated beyond fifth grade and my father was their first to attend college,” Dr. Spicuzza said. “He then worked and attended night school to earn his college and ultimately a law degree. My mother was a mathematical wizard and taught upper-level high school math classes. Education was always part of our daily conversations and was seen as an avenue to increase opportunities and choices.

“Immediately after college, I taught middle school in the Lower-East side of NYC (the mid-1980s) that provided year-round programming to predominantly Hispanic students in poverty.  I witnessed firsthand the importance of education in my own life, and the importance mirrored among the students and families I was working with in NYC. I determined there and then that I wanted to pursue this field for the benefit of others.”

Under his leadership, the Prescott School District has realized numerous improvements and successes around facilities and finance. During Dr. Spicuzza’s tenure, PSD witnessed the building and opening of the new high school and Performing Arts Center in 2015-16, the recent 2022 bond referendum providing an investment of $15 million into deferred maintenance and infrastructure projects of the district’s three older buildings, along with the two critical operational levies in 2016 and 2024 –when Wisconsin public school funding steadily fell behind the nation and CPI – and finally advancing of the district’s bond rating (Aa3) saving taxpayers higher interest rates on bond payments.

Dr. Spicuzza believes that the district's most significant achievement is its consistent improvement in academic performance on state assessments. The emphasis on AP and articulated college credits at the high school, and an unrelenting commitment to a student-centered, data-informed focus on teaching and learning has placed PSD’s academic performance in the top 10 percentile for achievement and growth for PSD students. The investment and elevation of Professional Learning Communities, embedded professional development days throughout the academic year, and Collaboration Mondays for licensed staff to address the holistic needs of Prescott students are top-of-mind accomplishments.

“My fondest memories and appreciation will always be the relationships I was able to nurture within the PSD, the partnership with a high-functioning Prescott School Board, stellar administrative team, and wonderful staff throughout the organization who are committed to Public Education and service to students and families,” Dr. Spicuzza said.

The Prescott School Board will partner with HYA Associates to conduct and facilitate a superintendent search. The board is targeting April to hire Dr. Spicuzza’s replacement.

Submitted by Prescott School District