ILWACO, Wash. – Tom Lockyer is leaving his job as superintendent of the Ocean Beach School District this summer.

He has accepted a position as superintendent of the White River School District in Buckley, Wash., near Tacoma. He will take over from a superintendent who is retiring after eight years.

Lockyer took the head job in Ilwaco in 2002, taking over from long-serving educator Nancey Olson.

His wife, Kathy, who has been working for the Vancouver-based Educational Service District 112, was a finalist for the superintendent’s position at the Naselle School District, but withdrew her application after her husband was offered the White River job.

The Ocean Beach School Board is working with ESD112 on a superintendent search.