BOARD WON'T REHIRE PRINCIPAL

Cape Girardeau Central High School principal Randie Fidler will end a five-year career with the school district after his contract expires this summer.

Schools superintendent Dr. Dan Steska said a board of education motion to rehire Fidler failed in a 5-2 vote following lengthy discussion in a closed meeting Monday night. Fidler was the only one of the district's administrators not rehired following annual reviews of evaluations by the school board.

Fidler, who has been the Central High School principal since 1996, will remain under contract through June.

"As in any employment case, there will be some who agree and some who disagree with the board's decision," Steska said. "I would hope the community realizes a decision like that could not be made without lots of analysis, research and soul-searching."

Reached at his home Tuesday afternoon, Fidler said he was not surprised by the board's decision.

"I was notified one month ago that I should consider resigning because the board was probably not going to re-employ me," Fidler said. "I refused to do that because I believe it stems from one incident that was unfortunate, but I didn't do anything wrong. The bottom line was I didn't feel I could resign for that reason."

Fidler said the incident had to do with student discipline but declined to elaborate.

Five board members declined to comment specifically about the split vote or reasons for not renewing Fidler's contract. The Rev. William Bird and Mark Carver were unavailable for comment.

"Hopefully, we've made the right decision," said Sharon Mueller, vice president of the school board. "We'll just have to go forward from here and see."

Fidler said administrators told him they recommended to the school board that his contract be renewed, but he said he recognizes the board's right not to accept the recommendation. He said he does not want a feud with the school district, which has been good to him over the years.

"The high school principalship is just a high-profile position," Fidler said. "The high school principal gets credit for a lot of good things and credit for a lot of negative things. Sadly to say, any time you have discipline you can have problems."

Fidler informed high school staff of the board's decision in a meeting Tuesday afternoon. Assistant principal Mark Ruark said the decision came as a surprise, but "the school business a lot of times is a volatile business."

"I have great confidence in our school board and board-level administration, but it was definitely a surprise," said Ruark. "I think Randie and I over the five years had a very good, professional relationship. I am sorry to see his tenure in Cape Girardeau schools ending this way."

Fidler was hired in 1996 to replace then-high school principal Dan Tallent, who was chosen schools superintendent. Fidler formerly worked as principal of Sikeston High School from 1992 to 1996. Prior to that, he had worked as a teacher, assistant principal and athletic director for 19 years in Sikeston schools.