District 885 Superintendent Marcia Ziegler Makes It Official: She's Retiring

In a move that seemed likely but not confirmed, Superintendent Dr. Marcia Ziegler officially put her retirement on the books in last night’s school board agenda.

  Ziegler’s final day serving as superintendent of the St. Michael-Albertville school district will be June 30, bring to a close 10 years of service. Preparations will begin immediately to ensure a smooth transition of leadership to superintendent-elect Dr. Jim Behle, whom the district hired last year in anticipation of Ziegler’s retirement.

“I want to reiterate, on behalf of the board, how terribly proud we are of the way that she has handled this transition in leadership,” board chair Douglas Birk said. “It was incredibly team-oriented and enabled us to have a very successful transition that I think has benefitted the district a great deal.”

Birk noted that Ziegler’s 10 years of service included a period of rapid student growth for the school district, the building of several schools, increasing academic achievement and showing strong financial stewardship.

Board member Jeanne Holland, who serves as the district’s liaison to the Wright-Technical Center, said Dr. Ziegler has been an outstanding supporter of the technical center and is very well respected among all the other superintendents in the tech center’s cooperative.

“I don’t think you guys even know how much work she did for the Wright Tech Center,” Holland told her fellow board members. “She was a great supporter.”

“It’s really difficult,” Ziegler said, “because it’s not a job, it’s a family, and you worry about how well you stay connected with your family. I appreciate the warm remarks