The Blue Valley School District has said a final goodbye to one of its most influential leaders.

Driving the news: Former Blue Valley Superintendent Jim Thompson, who led the district during a pivotal and rapid period of growth between 1974 and 1993, died at the age of 80 on Sept. 30 due to dementia complications, according to his daughter Kelley Walker.

Background: During his 19 years as superintendent, Thompson saw the district’s student population grow from 1,000 to around 14,000, at the same time that it added 19 schools to account for that exponential growth.

• Thompson also helped in renaming the district to Blue Valley Schools in 1976 to “add some local flavor to it” after the already-named Blue Valley High School, according to  district officials.
• “One of the very important issues we faced in the school district around 1980 was wether we could split from one high school into multiple high schools,” Thompson said in a former interview with the school district. “It was quite a time of student unrest and protest as we expanded.”

District’s response: Blue Valley took to its official Facebook page late last week to share a post about the district’s gratefulness for the impact and legacy Thompson left behind.

• As of Monday morning, the post has garnered over 400 likes and dozens of comments from former students and colleagues praising Thompson for his work ethic and compassion during his time at Blue Valley.
• “Dr. Thompson was a true difference-maker in Blue Valley,” Johnson County resident Al Hanna said. “He brought us from being a rural school district to a strong suburban school system. He cared about the people in Blue Valley and worked hard every day to make us better.”

Key quote: “While much has changed as the years have passed, one thing has remained the same —your legacy,” the school district wrote in its message.

Thompson’s next career path after Blue Valley

After departing from his position at Blue Valley, Thompson moved to Texas to become the superintendent at Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

• He remained in that position between 1993 to 2000. During that time, Grapevine-Colleyville also experienced significant exponential growth that Thompson helped navigate.
• He remained in the Dallas-Forth Worth area after his retirement from Grapevine-Colleyville and continued to serve on the district’s Education Foundation and the Association of Retired School Employees.