OSKALOOSA, Iowa — An Oskaloosa school administrator died earlier this week in an apparent drowning in Lake Michigan.The Mason County, MI, Sheriff’s Office reports 44-year-old Mark Scholes, of Oskaloosa, was seen struggling Tuesday afternoon in the water at Lake Michigan at the Ludington State Park. Authorities say several people entered the water in an effort to assist Scholes, but by the time they reached him, he had already slipped under the surface. The citizens who responded were able to locate the Scholes under the surface and pull him to a raft, and then to shore where CPR was started.

Several people entered the water in an attempt to help him, the sheriff’s office said, and pulled him onto a raft after he slipped under the surface and then to shore, where they performed CPR. Mark Scholes was transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Oskaloosa Middle School Principal Mark Scholes (from the school district’s website)

The Oskaloosa Community School District confirmed on Wednesday afternoon that Scholes was the district’s middle school principal. Scholes started with the district as an associate principal in 2013. He became principal of the middle school in 2019, according to the district.