MOSES LAKE — Moses Lake School District Superintendent Steve Chestnut and Special Assistant P.J. De Benedetti announced they are retiring at the end of the school year.

Chestnut, 53, said he is retiring from the school district June 30.

De Benedetti is retiring soon after Chestnut.

“I’m very confident that the best days in the school district lay ahead,” Chestnut said.

Chestnut said he is planning to continue his career under a different retirement system.

“I’m currently applying for different superintendent jobs outside the state of Washington,” Chestnut noted.

He worked in Washington since the fall of 1977, when he joined the staff at Cashmere High School, in Cashmere, Wash.

It is Chestnut’s 12th year as superintendent for Moses Lake School District.

He said he and De Benedetti loved working for the school district.

“It’s been a great 12 years,” Chestnut said. “Both of our kids graduated from Moses Lake High School.”

Chestnut said he is excited for the new opportunity retiring provides him.

If Chestnut does not find a job outside  of Washington, his family plans to stay in Moses Lake.

Watch the Columbia Basin Herald for feature stories on Chestnut and De Benedetti in the near future.