9. Jim Dusso resigns, leaves Lyle Schools

The residents of Lyle started this year with a resolution to end controversy at Lyle Public Schools.

Former Superintendent/Principal Jim Dusso announced his resignation from the district in late January, citing his family’s upcoming move to Kentucky where his wife had accepted a job. Though he stated his intentions to stay in the district until the end of his contract in July, Dusso would leave Lyle at the end of February.

His leadership and disagreements with Lyle Public Schools Board members and several community members, along with various missteps during his tenure, drove the community to pick sides between Dusso and the school board and Dusso’s critics.

The board hired Joe Guanella, a former superintendent for Alden-Conger Public Schools, to act as interim superintendent/principal until July. The board chose this summer to hire him for another school year.

—By Trey Mewes