Dr. Shawn Haralson said goodbye Friday to the children at Langston Chapel Elementary School. Having served as principal of four Bulloch County schools in 11 years, he reports to work next week in Fitzgerald, where on July 1 he will officially become superintendent of the Ben Hill County Schools.

Haralson led Langston Chapel Elementary for only two years. Before that, he was principal of Nevils Elementary, 2005-07; principal of Julia P. Bryant Elementary School, 2007-11; and principal of Portal Middle High School, 2011-14. Each of the moves was at the request of the superintendent of schools at the time.

“I have been blessed beyond anything I could imagine, with Bulloch County being able to provide me with the leadership and the guidance over the years of being a principal here, and it fully prepared me to go into a new position as superintendent of schools, and my goal is that I will continue to do what’s best for boys and girls each and every day,” Haralson said earlier this week.

One of Erk’s Eagles

Originally from Maryland, Haralson first arrived in Statesboro as a Georgia Southern University student in 1988 after the renowned Coach Erk Russell recruited him to play football. In three consecutive seasons with the Eagles, Haralson played in three national championship games, two of which the Eagles won.

He received his bachelor’s degree in education from Georgia Southern in 1993. Haralson has since attained a master’s from Cambridge College in Massachusetts and an education specialist degree and doctorate from NOVA Southeastern University, all in educational administration and leadership.

But he was first a Statesboro police officer and then a Bulloch County sheriff’s deputy, for about four years total, after graduating from Georgia Southern. He served as a DARE officer for both departments, visiting schools with Drug Abuse Resistance Education messages.

Next, he taught physical education in Tattnall County, then at Southeast Bulloch Middle School and finally in Screven County, before getting his first administrative job, as a principal of Performance Learning Center, Screven County’s alternative school.

Haralson also maintained law enforcement connections, serving for several years as a part-time Brooklet Police Department officer while a principal and doing some contract work as a court guard with the U.S. Marshals Service.

Haralson’s resume, varied skills and reference checks impressed the Ben Hill County Board of Education, said the board’s chairman, Gary Smith.  He also mentioned Haralson’s continued police certification.

“We do have a good, strong connection with our law enforcement community, so that’s certainly not going to be a drawback,” Smith said. “If anything, it’s going to be an enhancement.”

Working through the Georgia School Boards Association, the Ben Hill County board received 33 applications and interviewed seven candidates for the superintendent’s job, Smith said.

In interviewing Haralson, board members found that his ideas fit well with their own, such as plans for an early education initiative, Smith said. Besides its primary school, elementary school, middle school and high school, the Ben Hill system operates a prekindergarten, and board members are interested in expanding preschool to younger children and those not reached by Pre-K and Head Start.

“We like where we felt he can lead us, with us going with him,” Smith said.     

So, Haralson, 46, has a contract as superintendent of the 3,235-student school system in Fitzgerald starting July 1, which is when most superintendents’ contracts begin. But the board also extended him a one-month interim contract for transitional work beginning June 1 with retiring Ben Hill County Superintendent Nancy Whidden, who is concluding a 30-year career, including seven years as superintendent.

Amid other changes

Meanwhile, Bulloch County loses a school administrator who obtained more than a decade of experience here.

“Dr. Haralson is moving on to a new phase of his career, and I think it will be a great opportunity for him,” said Bulloch County Schools Superintendent Charles Wilson. “We’re going to miss him here. He has stepped in and stepped up when we needed him to, and we appreciate what he’s done.”

Bulloch County Board of Education Chairman Mike Herndon suggested that other school systems’ interest in hiring Bulloch principals can be seen as a kind of a compliment. Although board members “go through a lot of community turmoil” with school leadership changes, the school system is actively trying to develop leaders from within, he said.

“Looking at it from a business or corporate standpoint, when people from within your company are sought after by people from other companies, you must be doing something right,” Herndon said.

Earlier this week, Wilson appointed Pam Goodman, who has been principal of Stilson Elementary School for the past four years, as the new principal of Langston Chapel Elementary School. The board then approved Wilson’s further recommendations Thursday night so that all 15 schools have principals assigned for the next school year.

The Statesboro Herald will report the other principal appointments in Sunday’s edition.

Herald reporter Al Hackle may be reached at (912) 489-9458.