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TUCSON - The superintendent of the Tucson Unified School District, Southern Arizona's largest district is leaving.

Doctor Elizabeth Celania-Fagen just took the post, in 2008, but late Friday we got word she is now the only finalist for the superintendent position in Douglas County Colorado.

News of Dr. Fagen's departure may have come as a shock to most considering how new she is to the district, but board members said the explanation given to them makes sense.

Board member Miguel Cuevas said, "It's my understanding that personally it was her philosophical view the district and the state is not funding education the way it should be."

But that doesn't mean everybody's happy about her decision to leave so soon. Luci Messing the President of the Tucson Education Association said, "I'm very disappointed. I mean it took us a long time to search for a new superintendent. I mean they went looking throughout the country."

Others said her time here was still well worth it. Board member Mark Stegeman said, "She has done things to put district in a better condition then it was when she came in. Our administration staff is better, accountability is better and that will be a step up for the next superintendent."

Something the Douglas Board of Education is hoping she does there. Its board president John Carson said, "We feel very confident we've made the right choice. To get a unanimous vote of the board after a process filled with a large number of well qualified candidates speaks very well for Dr. Fagen."

The board said it's confident the district will be able to bounce back and it all it starts with the teachers. Stegeman said, "Teachers are the most important part of the district. Not the superintendent, not the board. It's all about the teachers and we have to make it clear to them and we understand that. They don't need to be worried."

The search for an interim superintendent is on and beyond that the district will look, nationwide, for a permanent replacement.