Meet Utah’s superintendent of the year

Going on 12 years, Cade Douglas has led the Sevier School District as its superintendent.

He’s spent his entire career working in the 4,500-student district based in Richfield and he is also an alumnus of its schools.

This past year he has also served as president of Utah School Superintendents Association, which means whenever the Utah Legislature is in session, Douglas is racking up a lot of highway miles driving from Richfield to the state capitol to meet with lawmakers on education and student mental health issues.

Recently, the superintendents’ association honored Douglas as Utah’s Superintendent of the Year for 2024, an award that recognizes outstanding leadership and pays tribute to leaders of Utah’s public school districts.

“Congratulations to Superintendent Douglas, an outstanding leader in public education who has made an immense impact on the learning communities of Sevier School District and the entire state,” said Lexi Cunningham, executive director of USSA.

Douglas, who earned a doctorate degree in instructional and curriculum leadership, has previously been a classroom teacher, literacy coach, principal and district-level administrator. His parents were educators.

He has served on a number of state-level panels and councils on education.

Earlier in his career, Douglas was selected for the Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund Teacher Program , which enabled him to study education systems in Japan for three weeks, according to the Sevier School District website .

Sevier School District serves students pre-kindergarten through high school in five elementary schools, three middle schools and four high schools.

The school district offers half- and full-day kindergarten options. High school students have access to concurrent enrollment classes in collaboration with Snow College as well as a wide array of career and technical education course offerings.

In recent years, Douglas has prioritized student mental health by establishing training for all district staff to teach them how to build connections with students and help them learn to self-regulate, a skill they need throughout their lives.