New Austin Public School’s Superintendent James Hess hit the ground running Monday, and it doesn’t look like things will slow down anytime soon.

Tuesday, August 03, 1999

New Austin Public School’s Superintendent James Hess hit the ground running Monday, and it doesn’t look like things will slow down anytime soon.

"Busy?" he said. "Absolutely … the day seemed like it was just flying by."

Hess spent much of his first official day being brought up to speed on current projects – Wescott Field, and the search for a Human Resources director being two of those – meeting community members and working on correspondence. In the middle of all that, he "tried" to unpack a couple boxes he brought with him from Kansas.

Hess was selected by the Austin Board of Education in July after a nation-wide search for a candidate to replace retiring superintendent J. Douglas Myers.

Hess comes to Austin from Liberal, Kan., a town of similar size to Austin, but with much greater ethnic diversity. Prior to that, Hess was a superintendent in Fleming, Colo., for seven years. On the way to superintendent, he worked as an elementary school principal, a teaching principal, and an elementary teacher. Hess has a Ed.D. from the University of Northern Colorado.

One of the big items on the new superintendent’s calendar is meeting with key board members, administrators and any community members with educational issues on their mind.

"I surely am available," Hess said, "to anyone."

He asked that people call his office (433-0966) to schedule an appointment or drop by the administration building.

Meeting with Myers will be a daily occurrence for a couple weeks, as Hess settles into his new job and the retiring superintendent ties up loose ends.

The two aren’t sharing an office, however, Myers can be found in the Human Resources office in the administration building.

"Dr. Myers has been great to work with," Hess said. "He’s a great source of information."

Wednesday Hess heads north to Roseville for a new superintendent’s conference sponsored by the Minnesota Department of Children, Families and Learning and the Minnesota Association of School Administration.