The Nicasio School District will re-establish the role of a combined principal and superintendent starting in January, with the school’s principal, Barbara Snekkevik, taking on the duties now covered by interim superintendent Nancy Neu. The decision to merge the roles comes as Ms. Neu is seeking full-time retirement. Her services have been offered pro-bono through the Marin County Office of Education since 2019 and intermittently in the past when the district needed them. Ms. Snekkevik, who has worked at the district since 2017, is already in charge of duties common to the role of superintendent, such as writing the Local Control and Accountability Plan and the universal meal and transitional kindergarten programs. “I’m honored that the trustees find me capable of this role and I’m so excited for the work to come,” she told the board at a recent regular meeting. It will not be the first time the district combined the roles of principal and superintendent. Jeff Psulgrath filled the role from 1967 to 2000 except for a one-year sabbatical. John Carroll, the superintendent of the Lagunitas and Bolinas-Stinson Union School Districts who is stepping into the role of county superintendent of schools next month, said the combined position is common in small districts around California. Bolinas-Stinson principal Michelle Stephens and Lagunitas principal Laura Shain are both assuming combined roles as a result of Mr. Carroll taking over from Mary Jane Burke. Nicasio School currently has 35 students spread between its three classrooms: kindergarten through second grade, with 17 students, third through fifth grade with 11 students and sixth through eighth grade with seven. The district’s secretary, Mikki McIntyre, told the Light that although numbers vary across grades each year, enrollment has been relatively stable.