Winkler made the announcement at the Board meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 7.
The Board appointed Winkler as superintendent on April 24, 2017. His contract is up in June 2021.
Winkler served as assistant superintendent under Gena Keller since Aug. 2011.
Before announcing his retirement, Winkler read a statement he wrote in support of the FCPS Antiracism and Equity Statement.
He said there was no doubt there are racial inequities in the schools and he thanked the task force for the hard work they put into crafting the statement.
“It’s a good start. I fully support this statement and will do everything I can to eliminate racism,” he said. “I realize this is a difficult job but we can do it. We must do it.”