Deputy superintendent leaving Linn-Mar

MARION - Dirk Halupnik, the Linn-Mar Community School District's deputy superintendent, has accepted a superintendent's job near Des Moines.

Halupnik will become the superintendent of the Southeast Polk Community School District in Pleasant Hill, he said Wednesday.

Halupnik has been with the Linn-Mar district since 2002. He will start at Southeast Polk on July 1, he said.

The move comes as Linn-Mar also is transitioning to a new superintendent. Katie Mulholland, the district's superintendent, will retire June 30. Quintin Shepherd, a superintendent in Skokie, Ill., will take over July 1.

Halupnik declined to comment on whether he applied for the Linn-Mar superintendent job, saying only that the district's search was a closed process.

'I have great feelings about Linn-Mar,” he said. 'Obviously (leaving) is bittersweet.”

Mulholland said the district will post the deputy superintendent position for applications soon.