Chris Prososki Announced As New Superintendent

For 2025-2026 HPS Superintendent Chris Prososki, the move to Hastings made perfect sense for him and his family. 

With HPS being located between Beatrice, where his wife’s family lives, and Kearney, where Prososki’s family lives, Hastings is an ideal area for Prososki and his family.

“I am from Kearney, and all of my family members live around the Kearney area. The location of Hastings is well-suited for me to get closer to all of my family members. In addition, my wife, Jen is from Beatrice and her parents still live in Beatrice,” Prososki said. “With that being said, Hastings is a great center location in terms of both of our families. Lastly, Hastings has a great education system, and it is a great community to raise children in.”

Additionally, with Prososki’s two kids still being in elementary school, Prososki wanted to make a career change before they entered middle and high school and had more established friend groups. HPS being a larger district allows Prososki’s kids to participate in activities that are offered at HPS but not their current school district, such as soccer and orchestra. 

“My goal is to get both my son and my daughter involved with some summer activities so they can meet some of their fellow students at Hastings Public Schools. Hastings is a great place to raise a family for the following reasons: quality public schools and colleges, quality health care, available housing, more options for my children, such as activities, athletics, and entertainment, [and that it’s] a big, small town that is centrally located to both Grand Island and Kearney,” Prososki said.

Both Southern Public Schools, Prososki’s current school district, and HPS are property-poor districts, where property taxes do not cover the entire expenses of the school district, so Prososki’s experience handling the finances in his current position gives him experience with the way finances are set up at HPS.

“I have been in charge of a school budget for the past eight years. Even though my current school district is smaller than Hastings, Southern is one of the 25 percent of schools that receive state aid or equalization aid,” Prososki said. “With that being said, the budgets are almost similar, but on a smaller scale. In addition, over the past eight years, I have helped both new and veteran superintendents through the budget process.”

Prososki looks forward to serving at a larger school district in order to have an impact on more students and faculty members.

“I would be going from leading a district with just under 400 students to leading a district with just under 4,000 students. Not only would this be a career advancement, but it would also allow me the opportunity to make a greater impact on more students and staff members,” Prososki said.

Before being the Southern Public Schools Superintendent for the past eight years, Prososki was the principal at Diller-Odell Public Schools for five years from 2012 to 2017 and was a social studies teacher and coach at Lexington Middle School for four years from 2008 to 2012.

“Being a teacher and coach at Lexington taught me about diversity, how education can be the great equalizer, and how education can improve a student’s social mobility,” Prososki said. “This gave me a different perspective about not only being an educator, but also as a school leader.”

As a school leader, getting input from teachers, students, staff, and former teachers is important to Prososki, however, he doesn’t foresee any drastic changes in his first year as superintendent.

“I think it is vital to get input from not only teachers, but also students, parents slash patrons, classified staff members, and former teachers. It is important to get input from teachers because they see education from a different lens,” Prososki said. “Teachers are in the trenches, and as a leader it is vital to support teachers because they will have the biggest impact on student achievement.”

Overall, Prososki is excited to start at HPS and to meet people in Hastings through his job as superintendent.

“I am very excited for a new career opportunity, and I am looking forward to building new relationships inside and outside of Hastings Public Schools,” Prososki said.