Since their January retreat, members of the Austin Public School Board have been trying to talk Superintendent Dr.

Wednesday, July 14, 1999

Since their January retreat, members of the Austin Public School Board have been trying to talk Superintendent Dr. J. Douglas Myers out of leaving … to no avail. Myers officially announced his resignation for purposes of retirement, effective Aug. 19, at Wednesday’s board meeting. He will be 57 in May.

The board accepted his resignation "with great sadness."

"We appreciate what you’ve done for this district in the last eight years," chair Amy Baskin said to Myers. There were tears from Myers’ secretary Sharon Alms, and congratulations from others at the meeting.

"It’s tough, but this is my 35th year as an educator and the time is right," Myers said after the meeting. "My wife and I have been planning for this for two or three years – this is the right time."

Both Myers and Baskin said his decision had nothing to do with the mid-year budget cuts that were implemented in late February. The district’s discovery that it would be operating on a deficit – a budget deficit Myers took full responsibility for – if it continued without cuts was the topic of much discussion in the community earlier this year.

Myers said there hadn’t been any down times in his career.

"Challenges, yes, but that’s a part of the work," Myers said. "I’ve always worked for communities where education was important. There were challenges, but you knew the people wanted the best for their kids. Things were worked through."

A Blooming Prairie native, Myers attended what was then Austin Junior College and went on to get B.S. and M.S. degrees from Mankato State University, an Ed.S. degree from St. Cloud State and his Doctorate from the University of South Dakota. Before returning to the Austin area eight years ago, he worked as an assistant superintendent in Rock Island, Ill. and Watertown, S.D.

He was also an elementary school principal, director of elementary education, curriculum director and director of instruction in Watertown. He taught fourth grade full-time and prisoners part-time in Stillwater, Minn.

Myers didn’t cite a particular achievement when asked about career highlights. He talked about kids and about people working together.

"In every part of my career, I have always tried to serve kids," Myers said. "I think I have accomplished that here as well as in the other places I worked."

He did tell the story of standing in a gymnasium in Illinois, the only white face in a sea of black, every person in the gym standing with hands locked to one another’s, singing "We shall overcome."

"That was an incredible experience for a boy from Blooming Prairie," he said.

The district may be losing him in August, but Myers said he and his wife Judy have no plans at the moment to leave Austin.

"For both of us work has been a passion for a lot of years," Myers said. "Serving other people is something that has characterized both our careers, (Judy is a nurse at Austin Medical Center), and I think we both still have that need. Obviously we have a lot of hobbies and interests, too."

In addition to his work with the school district, Myers has been and is very active in the community.

He serves or has served on the Red Cross Board, the United Way Board, the Hirsh Foundation, the Hormel Foundation Board, the Riverland Foundation Board, the Austin Public Education Board, among others.

He is a past president of Cherishing our Children, a past lay leader at the Methodist Church and works with Family Connections.