Manitou Springs School District 14 no longer is searching for a new superintendent.

About two weeks after Superintendent Ed Longfield resigned so he could return to Delta County School District 50J to take the top job there, he changed his mind.

And D-14 board president Jennifer Farmer said the board is thrilled that he did.

“We are very happy that Ed will continue to be at the helm of our school district to help us navigate these difficult financial times,” she said in a news release.

Longfield said the outpouring of support from the district and the Manitou community made him reconsider and ultimately convinced him that “this was the best place for me, my family and my vision for education.”

Earlier, he had said he was returning to Delta, where he’d served in a variety of positions, for personal reasons.

Longfield owns a home in Hotchkiss that he hasn’t been able to sell and he said Thursday that it’s “a financial drain on me. I’m trying to get rid of it or rent it.”

The announcement earlier this month in Delta County that Longfield would return as superintendent created a bit of dust-up.

The Delta County Independent reported that the district had kept secret the retirement of Superintendent Mike McMillan, who had stayed on under a work agreement since June. The Delta board also failed to advertise the job or conduct a search for his replacement before announcing that it had hired Longfield, who was assistant superintendent there until he took the job in Manitou last summer.

Delta spokesman John Jones said Thursday the district’s board is negotiating with McMillan to stay on as superintendent for another year to maintain continuity and to give it more time to seek his replacement.

The United Nations headquarters building in New York City. Photo by The Associated Press file

Osamu Honda