Richard Ballard ends his career with the Monroe school district.
By: Rebecca Tokarz
MONROE The school district will lose one of its top leaders later this summer when Monroe Township High School Principal James Misek leaves his position and heads to the Montgomery Township School District.
The four-year MTHS veteran will leave the district in mid-August and take on a new principalship at Montgomery High School this fall, school officials announced Wednesday.
The school district is already mapping out how it will proceed to find a qualified replacement for Mr. Misek and hopes to have a permanent person at the helm no earlier than "mid-to-late fall," school officials said.
"Do not think this will be a quick process," Superintendent Ralph Ferrie said. "We need to be methodical and thorough in our search."
The school board announced and accepted Mr. Misek’s resignation from the district, effective "60 days from June 25, 2003." He served at MTHS principal for four years and oversaw the functions of the school and its staff. He made $106,801 for the 2002-2003 school year.
Mr. Misek will join former Monroe Township Superintendent Stuart Schnur, who left the district in 2000 to lead the Montgomery school district.
Under his new position, Mr. Misek will lead a growing high school community that has nearly doubled in size in the last 10 years.
According to the high school’s Web site, Montgomery High taught 400 students in 1992 and more than 900 in 2000.
The district is constructing a new high school which when completed and opened in fall 2004 will have the capacity for 1,800 students, Montgomery school officials said Thursday.
MTHS has also seen its share of growth in recent years. As of May 31, 2002, 1,014 students were enrolled in MTHS. At the end of May this year, 1,151 students were enrolled.
The district plans to identify how it will select an interim principal sometime this summer, Dr. Ferrie said.
The principal position was posted internally throughout the district on Thursday. An advertisement for the job is expected to run in newspapers throughout the state on Sunday, Dr. Ferrie said.
According to Dr. Ferrie, the district hoped to receive as many letters of interest and resumes as possible by mid-July.
Initial interviews will be held with candidates and members of the school community, including parents, students and members of the administration, Dr. Ferrie said.
The top candidates will participate in second round interviews with members of the school board, high school staff and administrators at the high school.
The final two or three candidates would then partake in a district visit before a final decision is made.
"The process will be very similar to when we hired the principal at Mill Lake school," Dr. Ferrie said.
School officials said they were sad to see Mr. Misek leave and thanked him for his countless efforts through the years.
"I certainly want to publicly thank Mr. Misek for all the work and effort he has put into the district in the last four years," Mr. Ferrie said. "He was always extremely cooperative and was in attendance for as many student events as possible."
School board President Joseph Homoki also praised Mr. Misek for his service to the district, noting that he lived up to the challenge of being a high school principal.
"A high school principal is one of the most difficult jobs you can have," he said.
School board student representative and graduating senior, Tom Bodall was a freshman when Mr. Misek joined the high school and has worked closely with the principal throughout his time there. He spoke highly of the efforts Mr. Misek put forth.
"I’m sad to see him go. He’s worked very close with us. He’s worked hard with the students and sought to get our viewpoints," Tom said. "It will truly be a loss."