Gasconade County R-2 Board of Education directors met for a special closed session meeting on March 14 to interview and promote Assistant Superintendent Dr. Staci Johnson to the superintendent position for the 2026-27 school year. Johnson, who takes on her new role on July 1, was approved with a 5-0 vote.

“I’m really looking forward to bringing in the community as a partner in our school and engaging parents at a higher level,” Johnson said on March 16 during a phone interview. “I think we have a lot of opportunity to do amazing things for our kids and provide amazing experiences, but it’s going to take all of us working together to do that.”

Working in the district for the last five years, Johnson was originally hired for the 2020-21 school year to serve as the assistant superintendent, filling the role recently vacated by Superintendent Dr. Jeri Hardy when her predecessor, former superintendent Dr. Chuck Garner, retired.

Originally from the Lake of the Ozarks, Johnson’s family relocated to Owensville where her children, sixth-grader Zeke and fourth-grader Evelyn, currently attend school. Johnson’s husband, Devin Johnson, is currently in his second year as the Owensville Middle School principal.

Johnson was the only candidate interviewed for the superintendent position on Saturday, showing a strong show of support from the board. The 8 a.m. meeting opened and immediately went into closed session, exiting around 9:45 a.m., according to Johnson.

“One of the most important things is, because I’ve been a part of this district for some time, we can continue to move forward with plans in goals in place,” Johnson said. “That is one of the exciting things about moving into this role after being the assistant superintendent; we will be able to focus on real-world learning, improving academic outcomes, retention, and recruitment. Big parts of our plan we will be able to continue toward as we finish out the year and the start of the next.”

The biggest challenge will be the budget.

“The most important transition piece that we’re working on is the understanding of our budget and budget development process, because we are, right now, planning for next school year,” Johnson said. “Me being involved in those meetings and learning from (Hardy) are important.”

The district’s request for voters to approve a no-tax-increase bond issue on the April 7 ballot is also being taken into consideration.

“The other (transition piece) is our long-range projects and how we are moving forward on those, depending on what happens on April 7, and starting that whole process,” Johnson said.

The district is now on the hunt for an assistant superintendent in the 2026-27 school year.

“We are going to talk in closed session about the process,” Johnson said Monday, before the evening board meeting. “We are going to open that up and go through the full interview process, and I will be making a recommendation to the board of education for that position. Our district has a great reputation in the area as being a good place for leaders to work, and I think we will have a good pool of applicants to be able to find the right person.”