NASHUA – Over the last seven years, the students, staff and community members of Nashua High School North have become a family of sorts for Principal David Ryan.

Still, he couldn’t pass up an opportunity to work in Manchester near a different family: his own.

Ryan was hired by the Manchester Board of School Committee on Tuesday night, in an 8-6 vote, to serve as Manchester’s new assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction.

The move will not only be a step up for Ryan’s administrative career, but also a step closer to his wife and children.

Ryan served as assistant principal at Manchester Central High School for six years before coming to Nashua North. His wife, Maura Ryan, is an English teacher at Manchester West High School. His family lives in Hooksett, and his oldest son will be attending Manchester Central as a freshman in the fall.

“It was timing more than anything else,” Ryan said Wednesday of his decision to leave Nashua North. “It’s an opportunity to work in the district where my kids are going to high school. That was the most appealing thing to me over anything else … The family will be together, which is something I’ve always wanted.”

Ryan’s expected salary in his new post was not immediately available. But Mike Tursi, whom Ryan will replace, earned $105,000 in 2012.

The same year, Ryan earned $106,750 in Nashua.

For Nashua North, the move means the high school will have to find its second new administrator of the summer.

In the spring, assistant principal Chris Motika announced he would be leaving his city post to serve as principal of Manchester West. His post was filled in July by the Board of Education, which voted to hire Nashua South science teacher Ian Atwell to the role.

Now the district will have to act fast to fill Ryan’s post, likely hiring an interim principal for the coming school year while searching for a permanent replacement.

“How we go about filling that position, we don’t know yet,” said Superintendent Mark Conrad.

While the timing of Ryan’s departure may be challenging, his contract with the district does offer some peace of mind. Ryan said he is required to provide the district 60 days’ notice before leaving his post and that unless the two superintendents work out some other agreement, he intends to fulfill that requirement, staying at North until Sept. 30.

It’s time Ryan said he’s looking forward to having with the high school that marked his first job as a principal.

Ryan was hired at Nashua North in summer 2006, replacing the high school’s first principal, Patrick Corbin, who left the school to head the New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association.

Ryan grew up in Nashua, attending Main Dunstable Elementary School and Fairgrounds Junior High School before heading to Bishop Guertin. At the time of his hire, district administrators said his time in Manchester, the state’s only other city with multiple high schools and with diversity and socioeconomics similar to the Gate City’s, would serve Ryan well at North.

And it seems to have done just that. In 2012, Ryan was named the state’s Principal of the Year and was entered into a national competition.

Ryan said the decision to leave North was not an easy one, and was not one he would have made if the post in Manchester had not come up.

“It is hard to leave … You always have unfinished business when you leave a job,” he said. “But like I asked my staff in an email, don’t look at this as my leaving a position, but as going to be with my family. Consider it a family move. If it hadn’t been for the opportunity to be with my family, I wouldn’t be leaving.”

While Ryan will face a familiar district in returning to Manchester, it will not be without its challenges.

While serving as a Central High School assistant principal in the early 2000s, Ryan ran into conflict with Manchester school board member Arthur Beaudry, suing him in 2005 after alleging that the board member repeatedly urged administrators to fire him.

Minutes from city board meetings during that time show that Beaudry was concerned about approved time off Ryan took to coach the Trinity High School hockey team and perform duties for his part-time work as an Auburn police officer.

Beaudry denied any wrongdoing, and the lawsuit was settled in 2006.

Ryan said Wednesday that past issues would not affect his new role as assistant superintendent.

“My focus is to do what’s best for kids, which means working with all members of the Board of School Committee,” he said. “I think we all are trying to do what’s best for kids.”

Ryan said he’s confident his time in Nashua will serve him well in his new role, but that it will be hard to leave the teachers, administrators, students and parents he has grown to know so well.

“I think I’ve developed a really strong collaborative leadership style, in which just about everybody in the organization takes an active role in leading it,” he said. “I’d like to say thank-you to everyone in Nashua who made me feel as welcome as I did. A day didn’t go by without somebody providing respectful comments about our students, teachers, and really embracing education in Nashua.”

Conrad said the district is losing a great administrator but that he’s glad to have Ryan staying on through the start of the school year.

“He is a valued administrator, and it’s very difficult to run large high schools,” Conrad said. “Individuals who have successful skill sets in that area are relatively rare. But it’s a promotional opportunity for David, and I know it’s something he’s been interested in for some time. I’m pleased he’s been able to move forward in meeting one of his career goals.”

But Ryan said he’s glad his contract should allow him to stay on with North through the first month of the school year.

“I can open the school, make sure everything is on track,” he said. “The timing of this is very difficult, and I have a strong interest in making sure that our school is in good hands before I leave.”

Danielle Curtis can be reached at 594-6557 or dcurtis@nashuatelegraph.com. Also, follow Curtis on Twitter (@Telegraph_DC).