Bobbie Gutierrez had no indication that Santa Fe Public Schools needed to set up a search committee.

So it was much to the surprise of the superintendent of Santa Fe Public Schools that Skip Hemperley informed the district he is retiring as its athletic director.

Hemperley made the decision last week, Gutierrez said, and he will leave at the end of July. Hemperley held the position for three years when SFPS opted to move from individual athletic directors at Capital and Santa Fe high schools to one who oversaw both and the three middle schools.

Prior to taking that post, Hemperley was an assistant principal at Santa Fe High and DeVargas Middle School, where he also was an athletic director. Hemperley also was the AD at Los Alamos and New Mexico School for the Deaf.

"I was a little bit surprised," Gutierrez said. "But we all get to that age where, at some point in time, we're getting on to the next chapter of his life and he decided it was time to do that."

Phone messages left for Hemperley were not returned.

Hemperley took a leave of absence in 2009 to care for his father, who was ill and lived in Grants. He returned after a three-month sabbatical.

Assistant superintendent Sue Lujan will assume Hemperley's duties in the interim, and she will coordinate the search process.

Advertisements for the position began July 8 on the district's website.

The individual schools will have an assistant principal designated as directors for each school, and they will represent their respective athletic departments at any meetings with the New Mexico Activities Association.

Gutierrez hopes to have a hire by Labor Day, and the person to begin work by mid-September.

Practices for fall high school sports begin on Aug. 1 for football and Aug. 8 for the other sports, and competition starts by the end of the month.

Two other schools are also in the process of looking for new ADs. Jon Ingram left Santa Fe Indian School in June, while Teresa Flores was promoted to principal at Española Valley High School.

Those searches are still ongoing.

Contact James Barron at 986-3045 or jbarron@sfnewmexican.com. Read his blog at thereadbarron.com.