Print Newport Mesa Unified School District Supt. Russell Lee-Sung — who took over leadership of the district in the middle of a pandemic amid much controversy — announced Wednesday he would retire this summer, after 36 years in public education. In a letter to the school community, Lee-Sung, 57, explained his more than six years with the district would come to a close effective Aug. 3. “I have been extremely honored and grateful to serve the Newport-Mesa Unified School District and our school community,” he wrote, recalling a period of leadership marked by a nationwide pandemic that forced the closure of schools and moved thousands of NMUSD students to online learning.