Administrators at Austin High School agree: Royce Helmbrecht will be missed as assistant principal.

"It's Austin's loss and Lyle's gain," said Naomi Hatfield, Austin High School's athletic director.

Helmbrecht recently was hired as Lyle Public Schools principal. He has been assistant principal at AHS for nine years and been in education for more than 30 years. He is also the director of the Area Learning School.

Principal Joe Brown has enjoyed working with Helmbrecht, but knew Helmbrecht's goal was to be head principal at a school.

In fact, Brown and Helmbrecht interviewed for the AHS principal spot when it opened two years ago. When Brown was hired, people asked how he thought it would be working with Helmbrecht given that they had been competing for the job. But Brown said Helmbrecht never talked about it.

"When I came on board, Royce was extremely helpful. He always offered suggestions," Brown said. "I took his advice many times."

Hatfield, who has been athletic director for three years, said Helmbrecht has also been helpful, especially when she first started.

"I've had a lot of great help and support from people, but without Royce I don't how fun this job would have been," Hatfield said.

Helmbrecht taught in Milaca and Minneapolis before coming to Austin. He also helped start the Connection Center, a program that finds children and teenagers who have dropped out of school, but want to complete their education.

That experience helped him get the assistant principal job in 1993 because part of the job description was to direct the Area Learning Center, a program where children who have dropped out of school can begin taking classes again.

"My heart and soul deals with kids who struggle though school," Helmbrecht said.

"He's done a great job as director of the Area Learning Center," Brown said.

Helmbrecht started at AHS in the midst of a construction project and some restructuring of the curriculum. During his nine years the math and science requirements increased and so did the number of credits students needed to graduate.

Brown said Helmbrecht is great to work with and cared about students and education, although kids might not always see him that way.

Hatfield said Helmbrecht treats everyone with respect.

"He doesn't treat the three-piece suit better than the person in dirty overalls," she said.

Hatfield said Helmbrecht puts in more than 70 hours a week and attends as many sporting events as she does, along with every concert.

Helmbrecht will miss the people he worked with and his responsibilities at AHS, but is excited to start at Lyle.

"I've never been principal and it was a chance to do that," Helmbrecht said.

Finding a replacement for Helmbrecht will be a challenge, said Brown."The people in Lyle got a bargain," Brown said. "I think he'll serve the community of Lyle very well. I wish him well."

Cari Quam can be reached at 434-2235 or by e-mail at cari.quam@austindailyherald.com