Byron superintendent headed to Austin

Byron school Superintendent Joey Page is headed to Austin.

The Austin School Board officially approved the hiring of Page as the district’s new superintendent at a special board meeting Monday afternoon.

Last week, after interviewing several finalists for the position, the board offered the position to Page contingent on successful contract negotiations. With the contract negotiations completed the board sealed the deal.

“We’re pretty excited,” Austin Board Chair Kathy Green said after the meeting.  “He came with rave reviews,” she said.

For Page the position represents a move back to the school district he attended as a child. An Austin native, he is a graduate of Austin High School.

Page will begin his new duties officially on July 1, Green said, although he will be involved in transitioning to the position in coming months. The initial contract, she said, is for three years.

Page has been superintendent in Byron since 2017. In Austin, he will be taking over the position now held by David Krenz who is retiring at the end of the school after serving as superintendent for 12 years.

Green said that the board began the search for a superintendent in September and received a total of 10 applicants for the position.

A superintendent search in a time of pandemic was different, Green said, as all communication with the candidates was done virtually. The field of 10 was narrowed down to five and then to three. The three finalists were interviewed virtually last week.

Green said that as an Austin graduate, Page had “come up through the system.” She added that the “stars were aligned, so to speak” and the board is anticipating a long relationship with Page.

The Austin district has approximately 5,200 students, she said.

Page has degrees in special education and elementary education from Dakota State University in Madison, S.D, a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from Mankato State University and a doctorate in education from St. Mary’s University of Minnesota.

He has been a teacher/media director in the Bloomington Public Schools, principal in the Yellow Medicine East School District and the Richfield Public Schools and served as president of the Minnesota Elementary School Principals’ Association.

The Byron School Board will now begin the search for a replacement for Page. The district has a full plate as they also gave approval earlier this month to an almost $40 million bond issue election to upgrade school facilities. That vote is scheduled for May 11.