Bergmann accepts

job as NUHS principal

Ball now in school board's court

By KREMENA TODOROVA

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- Mark Bergmann, District 88's choice to replace retiring High School Principal Richard LaPatka, accepted the district's contract offer, according to Superintendent Harold Remme.

Bergmann agreed to a salary of $79,500 a year.

The proposed contract is now up for a vote by the school board, and the contract details will be released early next week, said Remme.

The board is expected to vote on the contract as early as next Thursday.

Bergmann will be traveling to New Ulm "as his time allows," to participate in selecting an assistant principal, Remme also said. Like LaPatka, Assistant Principal David Schmidt is retiring at the end of the school year.

Bergmann, 41, is currently principal of Murray County Central High School in Slayton, a school approximately half the size of New Ulm Senior High.

Bergmann had tentatively accepted the job April 24, pending contract talks. He was the interviewers' unanimous No. one choice. Many interviewers reiterated their opinion that he far "outperformed" the other five finalists during the interview and the reference verification process.

The school board had opted for a brisk-paced hiring process, in part to allow the new principal to help select his assistant.

Despite time pressures, the board has involved teachers, administrators, clerical and custodial staff, parents and students in screening several dozen original applicants.

Currently, screeners and interviewers are involved in hiring an assistant principal, in a process that mirrors the process for the principal. A slightly different set of people are being involved in the assistant principal's selection, to allow staff and parent volunteers that were "passed over" the first time around to also take part in the decisions. The district goal is to complete the process by early June.

Bergmann has been principal at Murray County Central High School since 1996. He has worked at that school since 1993. Murray County Central has about 430 students in grades 7-12. Slayton is a community of about 2,300 people.

Bergmann is married, with three children aged 9 through 16.