MS principal Meier to resign in July

Brent Meier, who is in his seventh year as principal of Monticello Middle School, has announced his resignation from the post, effective at the end of the school calendar year, July 31, 2020. 

The resignation was approved by the Monticello School Board as part of the consent agenda during its Monday, Dec. 16 meeting. 

“I just thought it was the right time,” said Meier. “I would love to be in the new building, but with a new building, maybe it would be good to start fresh and give someone else an opportunity to come in with their own ideas moving forward.” 

Superintendent Brian Jaeger said during the meeting that he was sad to see Meier step down. 

“He turned in his letter (of resignation) this week,” Jaeger said. “I tried talking him out of it. He sees all the stars have aligned, and the opportunity is right that this is going to be the time, and we all respect him for that and are very supportive of that.” 

Meier joined the Monticello Community School District after serving as elementary school principal in the Guthrie Center school district. He served as a teacher and later administrator in Guthrie Center, and coached that school’s football team to a Class A state championship in 1996. 

He took the job in Monticello in 2013 following the retirement of middle school principal Bill Gilkerson. Meier has been involved in several initiatives within the district, but said the bond election passage, and now construction, of the new middle school – scheduled to open next summer – has been the highlight. 

“The new building has been quite the process, and it’s been an interesting experience, and I’ve been glad to have been part of that,” Meier said. “Another highlight is, my parents graduated from the old building, so it’s kind of cool that I’ll be the last principal in the building where they graduated.” 

Meier said he will do some traveling – his daughter is expecting in April. 

“It would be nice to be able to travel and see them, and not just during the Thanksgiving break,” Meier said. 

He added that he may do some substitute teaching. He recently acquired a bus driver’s license, so being an activities bus driver is another possibility. 

Jaeger told Meier at the meeting how much he has enjoyed working with him during Jaeger’s four years as district superintendent. 

“He’s very caring about children,” Jaeger said. “We will miss him in our district when his time comes, and so will our kids and so will our families.”