photo by: Contributed and file photos

Pictured left is Shannon Harrelson, Prairie Park Elementary School principal. At right, Prairie Park Elementary, located at 2711 Kensington Road.

A new principal will be in charge of Lawrence’s Prairie Park Elementary School next year, as the current leader will resign at the end of the school year.

The Lawrence school district announced earlier this week that Principal Shannon Harrelson will leave the position on June 30. Her resignation was approved by the school board on Monday.

Harrelson, who is in her second year leading Prairie Park, is leaving the district to take a principal position in another school district, according to a district news release.

“Leaving Prairie Park and Lawrence Public Schools is bittersweet,” Harrelson said in the news release. “I enjoyed my time here and want to thank everyone for all of the support they have given me.”

The district did not say where Harrelson had accepted the new position. District spokeswoman Julie Boyle said Harrelson asked the district not to announce it because the school board in that district had not yet approved the hire.

Prior to joining the Lawrence district Harrelson served as a principal for a learning center and as a middle school assistant principal and athletic director for school districts in Iowa.

It’s unclear when the district will begin searching for a new principal for Prairie Park. In similar situations in the past, the district has said it would immediately begin searches to fill administrative positions. But the district did not say in its announcement when it would begin searching for a new Prairie Park leader.

Boyle told the Journal-World the district would fill the position, but no decisions on the matter have yet been made. Built in 1994, Prairie Park currently serves 364 students in grades K-5.