Thursday night, the Umatilla School Board said a temporary good-bye to Superintendent Heidi Sipe.

After 12 years in the Umatilla School District and five as the districts superintendent, Sipe has accepted a position with the Oregon Department of Education as assistant superintendent for the Office of Educational Improvement and Innovation.

Sipe begins her new job in Salem on Monday, and Friday was her last day in Umatilla before her leave of absence.

This has been a bittersweet week for me, Sipe said. I cant thank our team enough. They have been so supportive. I look forward to coming back in June.

The Umatilla School Board has granted the superintendent a leave of absence until June 3, 2013.

Thursday, Al Meunier was hired as interim superintendent.

A huge thanks to Al,?Sipe said. Theres no way Id feel safe leaving my district in the hands of just anybody.

Also during the meeting, the board also approved a vendor for the districts copy machines. Total Office Concepts, of Walla Walla, will take over that contract. District officials said the current contract is $1,200 a month, but the district has seen a slow maintenence response time from the current company.

The board unanimously approved Total Office Concepts as the new vendor.

In other business, the board:

Approved board goals for the 2012-13 school year

Approved Resolution 13-03, a financial transfer from the building fund into the general fund.

Declared a board vacancy for Position 2.