The superintendent of the second-largest public school district in Iowa is undergoing treatment for cancer and has submitted her resignation.
Noreen Bush, the superintendent of the Cedar Rapids Community School District, was diagnosed with cancer two and a half years ago. She went on medical leave last week and her resignation will be effective at the end of the school year.
“What this does is give me an opportunity to zoom in and focus on my health and my family,” she said.
Bush, who is 51 years old, addressed the Cedar Rapids school board last night by video link.
“Given the pathways forward, my greatest hope is that I have an unbelievable miracle land in my lap and I am able to exit as superintendent and still serve Cedar Rapids Community School District…perhaps back in the classroom, which would fill my heart with joy, as an English teacher,” Bush said.
Bush started as superintendent in February of 2020, leading Cedar Rapids schools through a pandemic and the derecho that struck the city that August. Bush was born in Detroit and grew up in Cedar Rapids. She’s a 1989 graduate of Cedar Rapids Jefferson High School and earned degrees at UNI and Drake.