Riverdale School District Superintendent Brook MacNamara announced her resignation Thursday.

MacNamara, who came to Riverdale in 2010, said a recent severe illness had posed an insurmountable challenge for her.

“The district really needs superintendent leadership. There is a lot happening at the state level, which is very exciting,” she said. “Because of my extended medical leave, it’s just impossible for me to provide the leadership they need. By stepping down, they can bring someone else in there now.”

Though MacNamara declined to discuss her medical leave, she said, “I really need to focus on my health right now and want the district to have the leadership they need."

“We hope she’s able to get healthy and really take some time to focus on what’s going on with her medically,” said school board Chair Mike Gunter. “The board, we appreciate the fact that she made the decision because it allows us … to now move forward and look at our leadership and how we fill that role.”

“I think the district is in a really good place right now. We have a really strong administrative and leadership team and very strong board,” MacNamara said. “They’re in good stead now.”

“It means that we are able to take a little bit of time to really think about the right leadership structure,” Gunter said.

In an email announcement, MacNamara said the Riverdale school board would soon be transitioning to an interim superintendent, who will immediately begin helping students of Riverdale’s K-8 grade school and 9-12 high school to meet new requirements implemented by the Oregon Department of Education this year.

It is Riverdale School District policy that one of the general responsibilities of the superintendent is to plan for coordination of district objectives and programs with state educational directives and goals.

First, the school board must accept MacNamara’s resignation. Gunter said that would be an item on the agenda for the school board meeting Monday.

Gunter confirmed that the Riverdale teachers association raised some concerns about MacNamara last month, but because it was done through an executive session of the school board, and “because it’s a process that’s ongoing … it’s hard for me to comment on it.”