There will be administrative changes at Woodson Kindergarten Center and every elementary school in the Austin Public School District starting in July.

Two principals have turned in their resignations: Deb Meyer, principal at Banfield Elementary, and Mark Randall, principal at Southgate Elementary. Both have taken positions in other districts.

Meyer, who joined the Austin district in 2007, turned in her resignation earlier this week; Randall submitted his the week prior.

Interim superintendent Bruce Anderson said the resignations and changes within the district have been made on good terms.

“I think past superintendents over the past 10 years have done an outstanding job hiring principals,” he said Friday, calling the fact other districts lure away staff as “a feather in Austin’s cap.”

New administrative assignments beginning July 1 include:

Jayne Gibson, principal at Woodson for three years, will serve as principal of Banfield Elementary.

Edwina Harder, principal at Sumner Elementary, will be the new principal at Southgate.

Jean McDermott, principal at Neveln Elementary, will head Woodson. She will remain in her role as elementary curriculum specialist.

The three principals are moving into other positions that fit the need of the district, Anderson explained.

“The three people who are moving are known, and they are highly respected,” he said. “It’s not because the three people are unhappy where they are.”

Gibson, who has taught all grade levels in the district and served as a secretary, paraprofessional and curriculum coordinator, said Friday she is really “returning” to Banfield — she was a teacher there before.

“I left Banfield when the opportunity came for me to become a curriculum coordinator,” Gibson said, but admitted she will miss working at Woodson.

“The staff, the students, the families … Woodson has been absolutely wonderful,” she said. “I’ve learned a lot through Reading First and having all-day, everyday kindergarten. I know many of the families because I’ve been their principal already.”

Banfield is the largest elementary school in the district with 503 students; Woodson currently has 376.

Gibson said the administrative changes were made in part by the principals themselves; each move was made with the principal’s experience and the district’s needs in mind.

“We just kind of matched them up,” she said. “It just became very obvious, this is where each of us should be. It is a process that really looked at the district’s needs.”

The other principals could not be reached for comment.

The district has begun advertising for the Neveln and Sumner vacancies, Anderson said.

“We have a process in place for recruitment,” he said. “Those interviews will be happening the third week in June.”

Anderson pointed out that potential candidates could come from within the Austin district.

“We expect a number of quality of people from inside and outside the district to apply,” he said.

The interim superintendent, however, will not be with the district for the hiring process; Anderson’s one-year tenure ends June 30. David Krenz, superintendent of La Crescent-Hokah Schools in La Crescent, Minn., will begin as Austin superintendent July 1.

Krenz was hired in January as a permanent replacement for Candace Raskin, who resigned in May 2008 to take a professorship at Minnesota State University, Mankato.