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Current principal John Janotta has announced his retirement at the end of the 2004-05 school year. Janotta has worked as the high school principal in Paynesville for 25 years.

The school district received 94 applications for the principal position, and school committees interviewed seven candidates on Wednesday, April 27.

Four finalists were determined after the first round of interviewing by all types of school staff, board members, and public members.

The school board held a special session on Tuesday, May 3, to interview the four finalists. Separate interviews - with two dozen questions per candidate - lasted from 4 to 9 p.m. The board then met in a closed session for an hour and discussed the four candidates, identified their top two candidates, and authorized superintendent Todd Burlingame to begin contract negotiations with the top candidate.

The school board could have taken action on a contract with a new principal at its meeting on Tuesday, May 10. This meeting was held in the afternoon at the middle school in order to meet with the advisory councils from the high school and middle school.