MOSCOW - Moscow Junior High School Principal Dale Kleinert will become the next superintendent of the district's public schools in July.

The Moscow School Board voted 4-0 Thursday evening to promote Kleinert, who has worked at MJHS in teaching and administrative positions for 28 years. Board member Paul Weingartner was out of town on family business and was not able to attend the meeting, but board Chairwoman Dawn Fazio noted Weingartner was also in favor of choosing Kleinert, "so, it's really a unanimous decision."

Kleinert will replace outgoing Superintendent Candis Donicht, who is retiring in July after eight years as Moscow's schools chief. He will earn $108,303 per year during his three-year contract, effective July 1.

Applause filled the meeting room at MJHS when board member Margaret Dibble announced the decision, and several district staff members hugged Kleinert, who was seated near the back of the room.

Kleinert said he was humbled by the decision and expressed appreciation for the encouragement he received from school and district staff and from the community. "It's really been something," he said. "The last few weeks have been an incredible reflection for me on my career and my dreams. That's been good for me. ... It's good for the soul."

He thanked the district's human resources department, school board and Donicht, who also received applause.

Kleinert acknowledged the district has some challenging times ahead of it as education budgets continue to be threatened. "We are navigating through some very troubled waters," he said. "Sometimes it feels like we're on an unguided rocket. And our district has done its best to keep the cuts as far away from kids as possible."

He said he'll spend the next few months wrapping up the school year at MJHS, where he oversees almost 600 students. He'll also be a part of the process to transition his eventual replacement into his old job. Donicht said that search process will begin today.

"Even though I'm moving away from the junior high, I'm going to be serving all of us now, and that's going to be a blast," Kleinert said.

Donicht said Kleinert will be well-prepared to assume his new role, in part because he interned with her while finishing up his education specialist degree at the University of Idaho.

"He knows everyone in this community. He knows the issues," Donicht said. "He was on the facilities planning committee. In fact, he put all of the facilities files together as part of his internship. He knows where everything is that we've done in the last eight years since I've been here, plus all of the work that was done before that."

She said Kleinert is also very familiar with Idaho laws and finances, as well as Moscow School Board procedures, because he attends every meeting.

"He's eager to do it. The skills are there," she said. "I think that he'll be able to take over the reins and bring the district to new heights."

Kleinert said his educational philosophy was stated best by former Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction Jerry Evans - "If you do the right thing for kids, you've done the right thing."

"That's really the bottom line," Kleinert said. "That will be my mantra."