Jacobs principal is next District 300 chief

In late summer 2011, Jacobs High School Principal Michael Bregy will go from furiously exchanging text messages with students to leading the sixth-largest school district in the state.

In a unanimous vote Thursday the Community Unit District 300 school board tapped Bregy, 44, of Algonquin to replace Ken Arndt, who will retire after one more year at the helm.

In picking Bregy, board members cited his communication skills and willingness to pilot new programs - such as his text-messaging initiative designed to promote direct exchange between him and his students.

"He has a leadership style that garners respect instead of demanding respect," board Secretary Anne Miller said. "Some things work, some things don't, but he's not afraid to try."

Bregy's ascent to the highest post in District 300 caps a 15-year career in which Bregy taught at the elementary, middle and high school levels before becoming Jacobs' assistant principal in 2001 and principal in 2004.

"Ever since I started teaching, I knew that one day I wanted to be a superintendent," Bregy said Thursday.

When he learned of the board's decision last week, Bregy was "overwhelmed with the thought that I could finally work with students at all grade levels and finally bring all my backgrounds and experiences together."

Bregy's Jacobs colleagues, his future co-workers, principals from across the district and his immediate family were on hand Thursday to witness the vote, giving him a standing ovation when it became official.

Bregy, clad in a conservative black suit, was seated beside his parents, Bob and Joyce Bregy of Mount Prospect, where Bregy grew up.

"He's always been a wonderful student and always enjoyed school," Joyce Bregy said.

While Bregy credited his parents with instilling in him the value of education, his mother said he deserves most of the credit: "We set the foundation and told him to build the house - and he did."

Bregy will become associate superintendent in July so he can essentially shadow Arndt for a year. Under the contract approved Thursday, Bregy will be superintendent from July 1, 2011, to June 30, 2015.

He will earn $154,319 as associate superintendent and $175,000 a year as superintendent. The district will also pay Bregy's required contributions to his pension. In addition, he will get 20 vacation days a year and receive the same health insurance that other year-round administrators receive.

Arndt has recommended that David Scarpino, the current associate superintendent, become principal of Hampshire Elementary School; current Hampshire Principal Jim Aalfs plans to return to teaching, Arndt said.

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