As a result of one principal retiring, one getting hired as a superintendent by another county, and Bulloch County’s school board and superintendent working things out after not seeing eye-to-eye on one appointment, four local schools will have different principals for the coming school year.
A unanimous Board of Education voice vote Thursday night confirmed the moves, including some promotions from assistant principal to principal that only the board can approve. But Superintendent Charles Wilson made lateral transfers of two principals, one of which was announced in a press release earlier in the week.
For the upcoming year, Patrick Hill, current principal of Mill Creek Elementary School, will be the principal of Portal Middle High School, replacing Dr. Karen Doty, who is retiring. Jennifer Wade, now Sallie Zetterower Elementary School’s assistant principal, will be interim principal of Mill Creek Elementary, replacing Hill.
Pam Goodman, currently Stilson Elementary School principal, is going to be principal of Langston Chapel Elementary School, where Dr. Shawn Haralson has resigned to become superintendent of the Ben Hill County school system in Fitzgerald.
To Stilson instead
Tanita Peak McDowell, previously recommended by Wilson for the Portal Middle High job but denied it by a May 12 board vote, will be Stilson Elementary School’s new principal instead.
“I’m going into a new position, moving from an assistant principal to a principal position, so I’m excited about the opportunity to move into a principalship,” McDowell said Friday.
She said she had been “a bit disappointed” with the board’s previous vote on her application to be Portal Middle High School principal, given her credentials and experience, but knew that the board could approve or not approve the superintendent’s recommendation.
A Statesboro High School assistant principal since 2013, McDowell was assistant principal at Langston Chapel Elementary for two years before that. Earlier, she was a teacher for nine years, and, as a fourth-grade teacher at Brooklet Elementary School, was 2011 Bulloch County Teacher of the Year. More recently, she completed the Bulloch County school system’s new Aspiring Leaders Program.
For the principal’s post at Portal, McDowell had gone through a process where a panel of teachers rated anonymous applications before any applicants were interviewed. But the board two weeks ago rejected the appointment recommendation with one member in favor, two abstaining, four opposed and one absent.
Some members of the public expressed a desire to see a man as Portal Middle High principal, rather than women as both principal and assistant principal. In previous interviews, Wilson and board Chairman Mike Herndon said the school system does not consider race or gender in hiring. Some board members said a consideration of individual “fit” with a school and the number of other school leadership openings to be filled was what was really in play.
McDowell, when phoned Friday, and Wilson after the board meeting Thursday, said they had talked about Stilson as another option, and that McDowell expressed interest and excitement. Wilson noted that McDowell has elementary as well as high school experience.
“Really it was a conversation I had with her, and I’ll stand by what I said to begin with, I think she’s going to make a good leader for this district, and I think Mrs. McDowell has shown she has the capabilities,” Wilson said. “We wanted leadership in this district, based on what we’re trying to do as a district, based on the accountability standards.”
McDowell said, “I’m definitely looking forward to getting to know the faculty and staff and the Stilson community. … I’m kind of excited about joining the Stilson family.”
Portal and LCES
With Wilson’s transfer of Hill, Portal Middle High will have a male principal, but Wilson instead spoke of Hill’s experience.
“Even though he has an elementary background, he has a lot of experience as a principal. He’s a very steady, stable, firm principal,” Wilson said. “He also has coached high school sports before, so he has an understanding of the high school area, and he knows the communities around here. He and I talked about it, and he was interested in stepping up and providing them the stability and leadership that they need.”
The other lateral transfer he had made was to reassign Goodman to head Langston Chapel Elementary. She has been principal of Stilson Elementary for four years after one year as assistant principal there.
“I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at Stilson and will continue to support the school and this great community,” Goodman said in a school system press release.
“It is always sad to leave one home and move to another, but I look forward to working with and getting to know my new Langston Chapel Elementary School faculty, staff and families,” she said. “I'm sure that we will work together as a great team to do what is best for all boys and girls."
Mill Creek
The one interim assignment is Jennifer Wade’s appointment to lead Mill Creek Elementary School. Wade was an instructional coordinator for several years at Mill Creek under Hill’s supervision, and worked at the school system central office as a curriculum director for two years before her one year as the Sallie Zetterower assistant principal, Wilson said.
“So she’s got a variety of experience and she knows the school, so that will provide them the ongoing stability they need,” he said.
But Wilson said he likes the way interim principal assignments have been used before, and will be able to evaluate the decision over the course of the year.
Dr. Carolyn Vasilatos, Mattie Lively Elementary School’s interim principal for 2015-16, was confirmed in an April 14 board vote as the school’s full principal going forward.
At Thursday night’s meeting, the vote on Wilson’s latest recommendations for principal assignments followed a separate vote for all other personnel recommendations.
Both followed a more than hour-long closed session, which the board’s attorney, Susan Cox, attended after both potential litigation and employment matters were listed as topics for closed-door discussion.
Herald reporter Al Hackle may be reached at (912) 489-9458.