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The Perry-Lecompton school board quickly filled the district’s superintendent vacancy from within.

On Monday, the Perry-Lecompton school board hired J.B. Elliott, the district’s director of curriculum instruction, for the district’s top job at the same meeting current Superintendent Denis Yoder officially submitted his resignation. Yoder announced his intention to retire last month.

Elliott will take over the district reins on July 1.

Elliott first came to the Perry-Lecompton school district in 2006 as principal of Perry-Lecompton High School. He served in that position until becoming the district’s curriculum director this year. His current duties also include oversight of the district’s grant and title programs and its state assessment testing.

Elliot said he started his career in education in 1994 as classroom teacher and coach at Hoisington High School. He moved up to become the school’s district’s athletic director and, later, principal for three years. His wife and three children moved to Lawrence in 2006 and now go to Perry-Lecompton schools, he said.

His challenge as superintendent will be continuing the district’s excellence in challenging times, Elliott said. The PLHS class of 2015 recorded an average score of 24.2 on the ACT, which was one of the highest in the state, he said.

“I think everybody in this business keeps an eye to the west and what’s happening in Topeka,” he said. “The budget is something you have to be aware of, but I don’t want to get caught up in that. When I come to work everyday, my first priority will be working to see that our students continue to get a quality education and instruction.”

Elliott credited his current boss with preparing him to take on that challenge.

“I’ve enjoyed working with Dr. Yoder,” he said. “He was an excellent superintendent and patient with me in teaching me the ups and downs of the superintendent’s role. I was unprepared for his resignation — not professionally but just the way it unfolded.”

Yoder’s resignation came in the wake of the school board’s decision not to renew the contracts of Perry-Lecompton High School Principal Mike Copple and Assistant Principal Theresa Beatty.

The district established a new drug-testing policy in January mandating random hair tests for students participating in extracurricular activities. District officials said at the time that teachers and most school district staff would not undergo drug testing and that Beatty was twice convicted for drunken driving.

Yoder acknowledged last month that publicity surrounding the new policy played a role in the board’s decision not to renew Copple’s and Beatty’s contracts. The 65-year-old Yoder also told the Journal-World last month that the incident was “not necessarily” the reason for his resignation and that “the time is right to retire.”