SAUK VILLAGE | A Calumet City junior high school principal is scheduled to take the helm of Strassburg Elementary School in Sauk Village next month.

The Sauk Village Elementary District 168 School Board on Thursday approved the hiring of Lynda Bozeman as Strassburg School's principal and gave her a two-year contract. She will be paid an annual salary of $87,000 plus benefits her first year.

Board member Marvin Perez cast the lone dissenting vote, saying he does not think the district should be hiring the principal of a school that is on restructuring status.

"We don't need that," he said.

Bozeman comes to the Sauk Village system from Calumet City Elementary District 155, where she has served as principal at Wentworth Junior High School since 2005.

After the school failed to make adequate yearly progress for five consecutive years under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, officials developed a restructuring plan, District 155 Superintendent Troy Paraday said. Although restructuring options include making changes in the school's administration, that was not part of the district's plan.

Paraday said that although the junior high has shown improvement in student achievement each year, it has not made enough gains to meet the state's adequate yearly progress requirement.

Meanwhile, Bozeman, of Monee, said she is "excited" about joining the staff in District 168 and calls it "a good opportunity."

"Change," she said, "is good."

Bozeman replaces departing Strassburg Principal Jan Zevkovich, who is leaving at the end of the month to become principal at Walker Intermediate School in Tinley Park.

"She fit in with what we were looking for. We wanted an experienced principal," District 168 Superintendent Rudy Williams said, adding Bozeman received a "superb recommendation" from Paraday.