Secondary principal position offered twice

EDITOR'S NOTE: This article has been updated here to reflect events that have taken place since the May 20 print edition went to press on Thursday at noon. Those updates, along with any new developments, will be published in the May 27 print edition.

At a special meeting on Friday, May 10, the New Rockford-Sheyenne School Board officially offered a contract to Megan Thompson to be the school’s next secondary principal.

Thompson is currently employed by the East Central Center for Exceptional Children, and has been working at New Rockford-Sheyenne as their “special education strategist.”

During the special meeting, board members went into executive session to review and discuss terms of the contract, after which they unanimously carried a motion to offer Thompson the contract.

Should things move forward as expected, the next step is for Thompson to sign the contract, and for another special meeting to be held where the board would approve the contract and make the move official.

As of press time on Thursday, May 16, no special meeting had been held. The Transcript will provide an update on the secondary principal offer as the process moves along.

Thompson would take over the secondary principal position from Avolt Baumbach, who resigned earlier this year as he transitions to a full-time teaching position at NR-S next year.

Meanwhile, the district’s current elementary principal, Natalie Becker, recently accepted the district’s interim superintendent position. She will hold both positions for the 2024-25 school year.

Should Thompson sign the secondary principal contract, NR-S would have just two administrators for the 2024-25 school year, as opposed to the three they’ve traditionally operated with.

The board briefly discussed whether or not the district really needs three administrators moving forward, but appeared to agree that having three would be best for the school once they can acquire a long-term answer for the superintendent position.

Only a few days after their special meeting to offer Thompson a principal contract, the board held their regular meeting on Monday, May 13.

During the relatively brief meeting, the school board approved the resignation of Adele Holth.

Holth has worked at NR-S as their media specialist, aka librarian, since the fall of 2018, and previously taught elementary classes at New Rockford-Sheyenne from 2007-2018 and at the Sheyenne school before the merger with New Rockford in 2006.

In her letter of resignation, Holth wrote that her reasons for leaving are personal, and that it was an incredibly difficult decision to make.

“I have enjoyed working within both the former Sheyenne district and the New Rockford-Sheyenne district,” wrote Holth. “The experiences and opportunities have been many, and the staff and students are wonderful.

“I wish the district continued successes in the years to come.”

The school board’s next regular meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, June 11 at 7 p.m.

UPDATE:

Megan Thompson chose not to accept a contract to become New Rockford-Sheyenne’s secondary principal, after being offered the position by the school board on Friday, May 10.

Consequently, board members held another special meeting on Friday, May 17 – after the print deadline for this week’s edition of the Transcript – during which a different teacher was offered the position.

After a brief executive session to discuss the contract, the NR-S School Board carried a motion to offer Laura Hager the position of secondary principal for the district.

When asked why the position was now being offered to Hager, NR-S School Board President Todd Allmaras told the Transcript that Thompson had simply declined the contract they offered on May 10.

Hager currently teaches middle school math at NR-S and has nearly 20 years of teaching experience in both Sheyenne and New Rockford schools. She was named the district’s Teacher of the Year in February 2023.

At the beginning of the 2023-24 school year, she also took on some administrative responsibilities in addition to her teaching position.

Should Hager accept the principal contract, another special meeting of the school board will be held to officially approve the contract and make Hager the school’s new secondary principal.

The Transcript will update this story as it develops. When Hager makes a decision regarding the position, we will publish an update to this story here and in the next print edition.