WHITEWATER — Samuel Karns will be the next Whitewater Unified School District superintendent, per a decision by the school board Tuesday.
Karns, the current principal of Todd Elementary in Beloit, is expected to start as superintendent on July 1. According to the item on the agenda for the school board’s meeting Tuesday, the contract would go through June 30, 2027.
Samuel Karns
The selection is roughly one month prior to the departure of Caroline Pate-Hefty, the current superintendent. Pate-Hefty is leaving the district on June 30 to take the same job in the Manheim Township School District in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania in southeastern Pennsylvania.
Karns was named the 2025 Elementary Principal of the Year by the Association of Wisconsin School Administrators and was a 2025 Herb Kohl Principal Leadership recipient.
Karns was also the assistant principal for the Spring Branch Independent School District in Houston, Texas. There, he was awarded the Teacher of the Year. Also in Spring Branch, he was the assistant director of student wellness for K-12 and a health fitness specialist.
“What they are looking for in a new leader, looking for in a collaborator and looking for in a communicator, I feel like I have those qualities,” Karns said prior to the selection.
The school board selected three finalists out of 31 applicants. The board conducted seven first-round interviews.
The board also had Kurt Schneider among the pool of three finalists.
Schneider is the superintendent for the TrueNorth Educational Cooperative 804 in Highland Park, Illinois.
The board also had in that pool Laurie Fiorenza, the assistant superintendent for student learning for the Oak Park and River Forest High School District 200 in Oak Park, Illinois. The board abruptly removed her from consideration. A statement from the district May 23 confirmed that the board deliberated Thursday after a public meet-and-greet with the candidates, but did not give reasoning for removing Fiorenza from consideration.
Karns could not be reached prior to deadline for a comment. The Daily Union also reached out to School Board President Stephanie Hicks for comment and did not not hear back prior to deadline.
