YOUR AD HERE »

District officer moves to Barton hospital

Jill Darby

After two decades with Lake Tahoe Unified School District, LeAnne Kankel is taking a position at Barton Memorial Hospital and bringing with her years of experience as a personnel director.

Kankel, who starts work today at Barton as the director of human resources, said she welcomes the change.

“I really had a need to move along and the opportunity came about and I was fortunate enough to get the job,” she said. “I’m very excited to make the change. I look forward to the challenge and being able to stretch my wings and grow a bit.”



Kankel was responsible for all the school district’s personnel issues, including recruiting employees, employee benefits, workers’ compensation, retirement and salary negotiations.

A longtime member of the district’s bargaining team, Kankel said 18 years of cut-throat negotiations took its toll on her.



“That’s something I won’t miss,” Kankel said. “I have been deeply scarred.”

But there are some things Kankel said she will miss about her old job.

“My kids are in the district and I’ll miss that inside knowledge of what goes on with their education,” she said. “And, of course, I’ll miss a lot of the people I worked with.”

The feeling is mutual, Superintendent Diane Scheerhorn said.

“We certainly are going to miss LeAnne and her expertise,” Scheerhorn said. “Twenty years of history with the district, that’s going to be hard to replace. The school district values all of the time she has dedicated over the years and we wish her all of the best in her future career.”

Kankel said she looks forward to some of the extra work attached to her new position.

“I’ll also be responsible for payroll, which I’m not here (at the school district),” she said Tuesday. “So that will be something new to learn. And Barton is self-insured so I’ll get to do that which I’m really excited about. This will be the first time I’m working with a private sector and now I’ll be learning hospital jargon rather than school district jargon. It’s like I’ll be learning a whole new language.”

Judy George, administrative assistant to LTUSD Chief Financial Officer Joe White, said she is proud of Kankel’s accomplishments.

“I have had the great pleasure of working with LeAnne for the past 15 years and I think she is wonderful,” George said. “I sincerely admire and respect her for all the time and effort, not to mention all the blood, sweat and tears, she gave to the district. I’m really going to miss her.”

Lake Tahoe Unified School District Program Specialist Beth Delacour is replacing Kankel as director of human resources on an interim basis.


Support Local Journalism

Support Local Journalism

Readers around the Lake Tahoe Basin and beyond make the Tahoe Tribune's work possible. Your financial contribution supports our efforts to deliver quality, locally relevant journalism.

Now more than ever, your support is critical to help us keep our community informed about the evolving coronavirus pandemic and the impact it is having locally. Every contribution, however large or small, will make a difference.

Your donation will help us continue to cover COVID-19 and our other vital local news.