The first day of school won’t be the same without Bendix Elementary principal Jim Unger there to greet each student with a high five. Unger resigned last week after 11 years as the Annandale School District’s elementary principal. “I’m looking for different options, something new to do,” Unger said. The school board called an emergency meeting Tuesday, July 8, to approve Unger’s resignation and begin the process of hiring a new principal. The board hopes to have a candidate picked by the first week of August. This is only the second time in 30 years the school district has had a vacancy for the elementary principal position. “Given the supply of good applicants out there, we should be able to find someone,” Supt. Steve Niklaus said. “Traditionally the best applicants come toward the end.” According to Niklaus, Unger’s resignation did not come as a surprise to the board. “We knew it was something he had been thinking about for a while,” he said. Niklaus is optimistic about finding a suitable replacement by the time school starts in September. He also commented on the hard work Unger has done over his tenure to not only keep the school up and running but to improve it. “He’s leaving the school in good shape,” Niklaus said. During his 11 years, Unger has actively promoted parent involvement, starting the now-well-known parent information nights. He also instigated the creation of the volunteer coordinator position, which oversees the management of all the volunteers in the school. He is an active advocate for Minnesota elementary schools as the federal relations coordinator for the Minnesota Elementary School Principals Association, and has represented them at both the state and federal level. The majority of today’s staff at Bendix was hired under his tenure. In his 11 years, he has had nearly an entire generation of students pass beneath his wings. The school board approved Unger’s resignation with a severance package of $33,729, an amount based upon five days of pay for Unger’s 11 years of service and payment for half his unused sick leave days. His resignation is effective Thursday, July 31. The district posted the vacancy immediately after last week’s meeting and will keep it open until Friday, Aug. 1. The board hopes to begin taking interviews the week of Aug. 4-8 at the latest. Traditionally, a committee of school board members, two teachers, two students a parent and custodian are present during the interview. If a new principal cannot be found by the start of the new school year, the district will have to appoint an interim principal and continue the search throughout the year. But the board was optimistic about finding a replacement. “We don’t need to rush, we have time” board chairman Michael Schmidt said.