Festus picks Windsor principal as assistant superintendent - Leader Publications

Windsor Elementary School Principal Denise Funston will leave at the end of this school year to take a job with the Festus R-6 School District.

She has been the principal at Windsor Elementary since 2012.

The Festus Board of Education voted 6-0 during a Dec. 21 executive session to hire Funston as assistant superintendent in charge of teaching and learning. School board member Richard Fadler was absent from the meeting.

Funston will replace Lucas McKinnis, who resigned in August and recently was named the new superintendent of the La Plata School District in Macon County.

Funston currently is paid $119,000 a year at Windsor, and she will be paid $143,500 next school year at Festus, spokesman Kevin Pope said.

McKinnis was making a $140,595 annual salary when he left.

Funston will be one of two assistant superintendents the Festus district has. Jonathan Earnhart is the district’s other assistant superintendent and is in charge of business services and personnel.

Festus Superintendent Nicki Ruess said Funston was selected from among 18 applicants for the position.

“With a proven track record of educational leadership, dedication and commitment to fostering academic excellence, she brings years of administrative experience to our district,” Ruess said. “Her philosophy will align seamlessly with the Festus R-6 commitment to excellence in education. I believe she will contribute significantly to the ongoing growth and success of our district.”

Funston has been an educator since 2002, all those years with the Windsor district. Before becoming the principal at Windsor Elementary, she was an assistant principal at Windsor Intermediate Center. Prior to that she was the literacy coach for students in grades three through five, as well as a districtwide instructional coordinator for communication arts and a third-grade teacher at Windsor Intermediate Center.

She has a bachelor’s degree in elementary and early childhood education from Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau, a master’s degree and a specialist’s degree from Missouri Baptist University in St. Louis County and a doctorate in superintendency from William Woods University in Fulton.

Funston, 45, said she was interested in working for Festus R-6 because of its reputation for providing its students with a quality education.

“I’ve been a resident of the Festus community for 24 years,” she said. “I appreciate the culture of high expectations they have there.”

She said she’s particularly happy to get a job that will allow her to focus on curriculum and instruction.

“Those have always been passions of mine,” she said.

Funston said she’s eager to take on the new challenge.

“I’ve always had a love of learning new things,” she said. “I’m seeking a new challenge.

“I have loved my time in the Windsor School District, but I’m excited to be moving to Festus now.”

She and her husband, Jeff Funston, a teacher and coach for the Windsor School District, have three children – Amy, a junior at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, Maggie, a sophomore at the University of Missouri in Columbia, and Delaney, a fourth grader in the Windsor School District.

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Festus picks Windsor principal as assistant superintendent - Leader Publications
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