Parkland School District Superintendent Richard Sniscak has announced his plans to retire.

The announcement to end his 37-year career in education came during the Oct. 20 school board meeting.

Sniscak plans to leave Parkland at the end of the 2020-21 school year.

The alumnus of Dieruff High School began his career as a mathematics teacher and coach in the Allentown School District.

Former Parkland superintendent Dr. Gary McCartney hired Sniscak as head football coach at Parkland High School in 1994.

The next year he became full-time athletic director and continued to coach football through 2000.

He then was named high school principal in 2001.

Sniscak was appointed assistant superintendent in 2009 under the direction of former superintendent Dr. Louise Donohue. He was named superintendent when she retired in 2011.

“In many respects, my entire life has revolved around public education,” Sniscak wrote in his letter to the school board. “I entered the education profession with the commitment and desire to make a difference in the lives of my students.

“Educators in my life did as much for me and I wanted to continue this trend and be part of this life-altering behavior.

“I always considered it an honor of the first order to represent this district as superintendent of schools.”