Shakopee High principal to resign

Shakopee High School Principal Jim Murphy, whom the school board voted to fire after his former assistant was charged with theft, has agreed to resign instead.

In a deal reached Saturday, the board will drop its attempt to fire the principal, pay him $70,000 -- the equivalent of seven months' salary -- and cover his family health and dental insurance premiums for a year. His resignation takes effect Dec. 1.

The settlement comes nearly six months after Murphy's former assistant, Deanna Stanius, was charged with stealing more than $168,000 from the school's activity account. Six weeks later, the board voted to fire Murphy.

An internal investigation showed no evidence that Murphy had engaged in theft, but the principal was responsible for overseeing the account, the school board said in a resolution passed after a closed meeting on Saturday.

Murphy challenged the board's move to fire him, and an arbitration hearing had been slated to start Thursday. The settlement means that the hearing has been canceled.

"A lot of nasty stuff happens at hearings, and I think this is a good opportunity for everybody to ... move forward," said Roger Aronson, Murphy's attorney.

Assistant principal Barb McNulty took over for Murphy when he was put on leave. A long-term replacement probably won't be in place until next fall, said Superintendent Jon McBroom.

"It's not the end of his career," Aronson said. "There's a lot of demand for high-quality senior high school principals, and he is one."

"They say a good mediation results in both sides having mixed emotions. I certainly have a very wide range of feelings today," Murphy wrote.

One of those feelings is emptiness. Helping kids grow up and acquire life skills "gives educators a sense of accomplishment that is hard to match," he wrote.

Murphy was principal at Shakopee for 22 years. In that time, dramatic growth led to more diversity and construction of a new high school.

"He's an awfully good guy," Aronson said. "Maybe the worst thing that ever happened in his education career was a staff member named Deanna Stanius."

Murphy has been on paid leave, as required by state law, since the board voted this summer to fire him. Without a settlement, his pay would have continued until an arbitrator resolved the dispute, which could have taken months, according to the board.

As part of the settlement, Murphy agreed not to sue the district.

The deal was approved in a 5-2 vote, with Mary Romansky and Kathy Busch dissenting. The pair also voted against firing the principal.