UPDATE: Kamloops-Thompson school district superintendent resigns

The head of the Kamloops-Thompson school district has resigned from her role after four years on the job.

School District 73 confirmed superintendent Rhonda Nixon’s last day is tomorrow, July 4.

“This morning, board chair Heather Grieve shared with staff that superintendent Dr. Rhonda Nixon has decided to return to Alberta to support her family and has resigned from her position,” a school district statement reads.

The school district has not commented on a workplace investigation into her alleged bullying of employees, but an employee union said it directly led to her resignation.

“CUPE 3500 has shown that we will never tolerate the harassment of any of our members from any level of management,” union president Dawn Armstrong said in a letter to members, July 3 after the district confirmed Nixon’s resignation to reporters.

iNFOnews.ca reached out to the board chair for comment on the union letter, but she wouldn’t comment on the investigation. School district spokesperson Chelsea Isenor said the board is subject to “strict privacy and confidentiality obligations.”

“The Board accepted Dr. Nixon’s resignation due to family reasons as stated in the previous statement. There are no further details to share about Superintendent Nixon’s resignation, and we will not be commenting further at this time,” Isenor said in a written response.

Armstrong said she would not comment on the investigation, or the letter obtained by iNFOnews.ca, while the school board refrains from commenting. She said it’s the the board’s “responsibility” to comment on the investigation’s result first.

Her letter, meanwhile, quotes the school board as telling the union Nixon violated bullying and harassment policies at the district.

“You may have heard through the media that Rhonda Nixon has resigned her position claiming she needs to return to Alberta for family reasons. Whereas we do not wish to discredit any family issues Ms. Nixon is saying that she is experiencing, we can assure members that her departure is also a direct result of our grievance. Our goal, however, was to stop the harassment and Rhonda Nixon’s departure will ensure this outcome,” Armstrong’s letter reads.

iNFOnews.ca previously reported Nixon was under investigation for workplace bullying and harassment.

The union accused her of belittling, demeaning and yelling at staff, creating a toxic work environment. The grievance escalated to an investigation. The results of that investigation have not been released.

Nixon’s resignation comes as the school district faces steep budget pressures, not unlike others across the province, though the district did blame an accounting error for overspending millions of dollars last year.

She did not immediately reply to a request for comment from iNFOnews.ca.

She was hired in 2021 after moving to Kamloops from a previous superintendent role at a Catholic school district in Alberta.

District trustees will soon appoint an temporary replacement as they search for a new superintendent.

— This story was updated at 2:58 p.m. Thursday, July 3, 2025.