The Park City School District announced Thursday morning that COO Mike Tanner’s position has been eliminated in a reduction of force move.The position ended March 31, though Tanner will be available through June 30 to assist in the transition of his duties to others, district spokesman Colton Elli ott said.“It has been determined that it is in the best interest of the district to effectuate a reduction in force that will result in the elimination of the COO position,” Elliott said in a prepared statement. “This is consistent with an overall trend of declining enrollment and planned school consolidation that includes the closure of Treasure Mountain Junior High at the end of the 2024-25 school year.”Colton said the district appreciated Tanner’s work during his six-year tenure, beginning in 2019, that included dealing with COVID as well as district construction and security initiatives.“We thank Mr. Tanner for his service to the district and wish him the best in his future endeavors,” Elliott said, adding that the district would not comment beyond the “statement on this personnel matter.”District officials left unanswered a host of questions raised in a Park Record story written by freelance writer Michelle Deininger last fall about Tanner’s total compensation, time working remotely from out of state, and claims of serving in the Air Force Reserve after retirement from active duty, among others.Tanner’s position was created by former district Superintendent Jill Gildea, who had worked previously with him. He was the highest paid in the state in his position, though there was an apparent discrepancy in his total compensation between what Transparent Utah reported and information provided directly by the school district.Gildea reported to the school board last summer that she had granted Tanner permission to work remotely from his home in suburban Chicago in part due to reserve duty, and he told KPCW in an interview that he was finishing up reserve duty, though questions arose whether he was in the reserves at that time.School officials also were never clear about how much time Tanner worked remotely, why he was paid for security work in an extra contract even though one of his prime duties in his base contract was overseeing security, or how much time he devoted to reserve duty vs. school district work.Tanner himself did not respond to questions for the story in November. Attorneys for the school district briefly threatened to sue The Park Record a few weeks after the story ran, but district officials never offered factual corrections to the report. Since the story appeared, the school board has changed and a new permanent superintendent, Lyndsay Huntsman, was hired.“One of the first tasks undertaken by Superintendent Huntsman as she has stepped into her role has been to take a hard look at the administrative structure of the district,” Elliott said in the statement. “Based on her long tenure in the district, her knowledge of the district’s prior administrative structures, and desire to reduce administrative overhead costs, it has been determined that it is in the best interest of the district to effectuate a reduction-in-force that will result in the elimination of the COO position.”The post Park City School District COO Mike Tanner let go in reduction in force appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less