Principal to be recommended for Mark Twain Elementary

Laura Austin, the vice principal of Eagle Valley Middle School, will be recommended to replace Principal Kathy Adair when she retires from Mark Twain Elementary School at the end of the school year.

"She is energetic, she works well with parents and students and staff, and she will bring a lot of experience to the position," said Dr. Mary Pierczynski, superintendent of the Carson City School District.

The School Board of Trustees, which meets 7 p.m. tonight in the Sierra Room of the Community Center, at 851 E. William St., will vote on the recommendation.

"We're hoping the board will approve her," Pierczynski said. "Of course, it's ultimately the decision of the board. We only recommend."

Austin has been vice principal of Eagle Valley for the past three years. She started with the district four years ago as vice principal of Mark Twain Elementary School and English-as-a-second-language coordinator for the district.

She said she would be happy to take the helm at Mark Twain.

"The staff is very talented," she said. "It's an extremely conscientious staff that works well together."

Before coming to Carson City, she taught in the Douglas County School District at various levels.

"I've taught everything," she said. "I've taught kindergarten, and I've taught 12th-grade advanced placement. In terms of the age group, I feel very comfortable."

She's been in education for 24 years. Adair, who has served for 13 years in the Carson City School District, has been in education 30 years.

Adair has been principal at Mark Twain for the past three years and prior to that was vice principal at Eagle Valley Middle School and dean of students and a counselor at Carson Middle School.

If approved, Austin will start as principal of Mark Twain in the 2006-07 school year.

Also, trustees will vote on a replacement for trustee Sheila Ward, who stepped down in early February after she moved outside of the boundaries of her board seat.

The school district advertised the position as required by law and three candidates have thrown in their names: Jeffrey Fontaine, director of the Nevada Department of transportation; Louis Granier from the Nevada Legislative Council Bureau and a teacher in the Carson City School District from 1971-1995; and Roger Kirkland, owner of Roger Kirkland Insurance.

"(The candidates) are going to be interviewed at the meeting and they'll be interviewed in public," Pierczynski said. "And the (trustees) will make the choice in public."

The chosen candidate will serve out Ward's term, which will expire at the end of the school year.

If the person wishes to serve a four-year term, he or she will need to register to run in the upcoming election.