McLouth school superintendent Jean Rush has been hired to lead a district near Garden City.

Rush has been hired as superintendent in Holcomb, a school official there said Tuesday. She agreed to a two-year contract, which starts July 1 and includes an annual salary of $105,000. She also is to receive $5,160 annually in health insurance benefits and a one-time moving expense stipend of $9,000. The school board approved her as its new superintendent during a special meeting Friday, the official said.

Rush, who earns about $80,000 annually in McLouth, had been superintendent at McLouth since 1999. She had been assistant superintendent in the Nickerson-South Hutchinson school district from 1993 to 1999 before becoming superintendent in McLouth.

Even if Rush had not been hired in Holcomb, she would have left McLouth this year. In October, members of the McLouth school board agreed that they would not extend her contract; by the end of the month, Rush had submitted her resignation, effective at the end of the academic year.

The McLouth school board is interviewing applicants, and school officials have said they could have a new superintendent selected by the end of this week.