"This is a career decision, one of the things I've trained myself for with a superintendent's certificate," Szymoniak said. "It's a new challenge, a nice professional challenge for me."

Szymoniak has been Homer Middle School principal since 2000. Prior to that, he was principal of McNeil Canyon Elementary School for six years, served as principal/teacher at Moose Pass School for six years and taught at Seward Elementary School for three years.

KPBSD Superintendent Donna Peterson recently met with Homer Middle School staff and site council, explaining the procedure to find Szymoniak's replacement and urging public input be e-mailed to her no later than 6 p.m. April 6. The position is posted on the district's Web site and will remain open through Friday.

"Interviews are scheduled for the 13th of April," Peterson said. The public is invited to attend. Those in attendance will have an opportunity to provide feedback. The names of interviewees will not be known until that time. "At 4:45 p.m. I will be briefing the audience and then at 5 p.m., we will start with the first interview, assuming we get a pool of quality people that meet the requirements."

Replacing Cook at Chapman is a different process because that school has less than 200 students. For smaller schools, the district considers either a principal/teacher or a regional administrator.

"We move to regional administration whenever possible, sharing between two sites," Peterson said.

After 16 years teaching band at Homer Middle and High schools, Bill Searle has decided it is time to retire. At one time or another, he has taught band for every public school in the Homer area, with the exception of Paul Banks Elementary School.

"And that's all I've had time for," Searle said. He first came to Alaska while touring with the U.S. Army Band in the 1970s. "I decided then that I wanted to come to Alaska and teach."

That is exactly what Searle did. After graduating from the University of Montana, he spent six years in Nenana before coming to Homer.

"I plan to quit thinking about band for 24 hours a day," Searle said. Other than that, his plans are a bit uncertain. "It's kind of sad and I'm kind of scared," he said, laughing. "I'm OK. I can do this. I have really enjoyed band rehearsals and had a good time in Homer. I wonder if there's life after breathing band for 25 years?"

The public can see Searle in action at the high school spring concert on May 3, the junior high spring program on May 10 and the high school pops concert on May 17.

"And then the last time I direct the band will be at graduation ceremony," he said of the May 22 event.

Loraine Murphy has been the language arts instructor at Homer High School for 18 years. She also has taught French. Like Searle, Murphy said it is time to retire.

"It's time for the younger guys to come in and take over," Murphy said. "I'm relishing the idea of doing pretty much nothing for awhile. My husband and I have a lot of things we want to do together, and this will free our schedule up to do some traveling and other things."

Homer has been Murphy's home for 22 years, so she does not plan to leave the area; however, frequent visits to see her grandson in Illinois are part of her plans and she has her eye on doing some local volunteer work.

Theater arts instructor Lance Petersen came to Homer in 1969, began teaching at Kachemak Bay Campus part-time in 1970, and left KBC to teach at Homer High School full-time in 1985. Two years later, his position became part-time at the high school. It has remained part-time and he eventually returned full-time to KBC. Petersen's retirement is from the high school and KBC.

He is currently busy with preparations for the high school's production of "The Mikado," a musical by Gilbert and Sullivan with a cast of more than 100 high school students. It will be performed April 22, 23 and 24. But his busy schedule will slow down considerably when his contract with the district expires on June 30.

"Maybe I'll go fishing," Petersen said.

Ron Keffer, principal of Homer High School, said filling Searle's and Murphy's positions will depend on other changes in the district, such as staffing and transfers.

"We will be getting letters out to parents, letting them know what's happening, meeting to discuss the process so they'll know what we're doing, and giving them the opportunity to meet candidates," Keffer said.

The position currently held by Petersen may not be filled as it has been, Keffer said..

"They've been at the school a long time and we've come to rely on them for what they bring to us every day," Keffer said. "They're quality people."

McKibben Jackinsky can be reached at mckibben.jackinsky@homernews.com.