Miller Supt. Storm announces retirement at end of school year

Administrator to leave Miller after 11 years at helm, looks to destress, spend more time with family
 
Dustin Storm, superintendent of the Miller School District, will be retiring at the end of the school year. Storm, who has been in the district for more than a decade, announced his plans last week.
Storm began his tenure as an educator 29 years ago, he said. At the time he was a simple instructor at Wichita, Kan.; he would eventually move on to the Webb City School District, where he both taught and coached for the district for three years. Storm would take his first job as a principal in 2001 at Carthage School District, staying in that position for the next six years. Storm said he settled into his first job as a superintendent in 2007 at the South Callaway School District, where he would stay for the next couple of years. Then, according to Storm, he moved back to his hometown, Webb City, and was principal there from 2009 to 2015, finally settling in at Miller after that.
Improvements in district
Over his time in the Miller School District, Storm has spearheaded much improvement. Among the most important has been upgrades to the facilities, said Storm.
“We’ve made a great advancement in technology and also aesthetically made excellent progress,” he said.
“But perhaps more significant than that,” said Storm, “the school improved the benefits packages for educators across the district.”
“We pay 100 percent of our health insurance for our teachers, and that was something that wasn’t the case, so I think we made excellent progress,” said Storm.
Job not done
Much was accomplished under Storm’s leadership, but there is still much to do, according to Storm himself. In the future, there are a couple projects that he would like to see taken care of, even after he’s gone. Most of these, said Storm, come from the long-range plan handed down from the board of education. One of these projects he hopes to see completed—after he’s moved on—is to upgrade the football field and track and add on to the elementary. Also on that long-range plan are storm shelters for the high school and elementary buildings in the district.
After retirement
Now that he plans to retire, Storm said he hopes to relax a little bit. While it is an extremely fulfilling field of work, Storm said, the world of education is one of definite stress, and that stress is one he will not miss.
“It is a very stressful position for all educators, no matter if you’re a teacher or a bus driver,” said Storm. “It’s a demanding job because we have these precious kids that we need to take care of, and I don’t think there’s a more important job in the world.”
In the coming years, Storm does not have any plans in place regarding a new profession, instead hoping he can spend some time with his family, but he still wishes well for the city of Miller and the community around it, which he said makes it special.
“I’m so thankful and blessed to have this opportunity to be here for the past 11 years, and I plan to finish strong.”
Storm will finish out this school year, planning to retire in June of 2026.