Muscogee County School Board approves 2 principals, 3 directors

During its monthly meeting Monday night, the Muscogee County School Board approved the appointment of two principals and three directors.

Amy Wohler, interim principal at Jordan High, received the permanent position to replace Alton White, who was hired as principal of LaGrange High School in Troup County.

Adam Herring, director of secondary education in Carroll County, will replace Michael Barden as principal of Shaw High School. The board unanimously approved Barden’s promotion in March to senior director of technology learning and support. He replaces Jana Reese, who retired in November.

Sadiyah Abdullah, the principal of Lonnie Jackson Academy, was promoted to director of the Early Success Centers, which are the district’s nine pre-kindergarten sites. She replaces Dana Thompson, who resigned to move out of state.

Christine Hull, an assistant principal at Northside High School, was promoted to director of advanced learning and gifted programs. She replaces Angel Cash, who retired. Carol Mashburn has been the interim director and will return to her retirement, MCSD human resources chief Kathy Tessin told the Ledger-Enquirer.

James Howard “Ward” Odom Jr., a project manager for the district, was promoted to director of plant services. He will replace Robert Stansel, who will retire in July, Tessin said.

The votes were 8-0 to approve superintendent David Lewis’ recommendations. District 8 representative Frank Myers was absent from the meeting.

The resumes attached to the board’s agenda provide additional details about the appointees’ backgrounds.

Herring has been director of secondary education in Carroll County for one year. He was principal of Villa Rica High School (2010-15), assistant principal of East Coweta High School (2005-10) and an English teacher at Northgate High School in Newnan (1998-2005). He earned a specialist’s degree in educational leadership from Samford University in 2008, a master’s degree in educational leadership from the University of West Georgia in 2004 and a bachelor’s degree in English from West Georgia in 1998.

According to the agenda, 43 candidates applied for the Shaw principal’s position, including 21 from inside the system and 15 were interviewed, including 10 from inside the system.

At Jordan, Wohler was interim principal for one month, School Improvement Grant administrator since 2014, Career, Technical and Agricultural Education supervisor (2012-14), school improvement specialist (2011-12), school test coordinator (2010-11) and CTAE and teaching as a profession pathway teacher (2008-11). She earned a specialist’s degree in educational leadership from Columbus State University in 2012, a master’s degree in educational uses of technology from Northwest Missouri State University in 1998 and a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Culver-Stockton College in 1990.

District 4 representative Naomi Buckner expressed concern about Wohler not having been an assistant principal and asked whether a School Improvement Grant administrator’s job requires similar responsibility. Lewis said it does indeed.

According to the agenda, 12 candidates applied for the Jordan principal’s position, including five from inside the system, and five were interviewed, including three from inside the system.

Abdullah has been principal of Lonnie Jackson since 2015. She was an assistant principal for District 5 in Irmo, S.C., (2013-15), School Improvement Grant director in Columbia, S.C. (2012-13), a principal in Greensboro, N.C. (2005-10), a principal fellow in North Carolina (2003-05) and a teacher in Greensboro (2002-03), Champaign, Ill., (2001-02) and teacher Kankakee, Ill. (1994-98). She earned a specialist’s degree in educational leadership from East Carolina University in 2013, a master’s degree in school administration from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 2005, a master’s degree in teaching from Olivet Nazarene University in 2000 and a bachelor’s degree in speech communication from Eastern Illinois University in 1991.

According to the agenda, nine candidates applied to be director of the Early Success Centers, including five from inside the system, and two were interviewed, both from inside the system.

Hull has been assistant principal for curriculum and instruction at Northside since 2013 and taught at Northside various English, literature, art history, creative writing, humanities and journalism courses (2003-13). She was the district’s 2009 Teacher of the Year. She earned a specialist’s degree in educational leadership from Columbus State in 2012, a master’s degree in secondary English education from Columbus State in 2005 and a bachelor’s degree in secondary English education from Georgia Southern University in 2002.

According to the agenda, 13 candidates applied to be the director of advanced learning and gifted programs, including six from inside the system, and four were interviewed, all from inside the system.

Odom has been a project manager in the district since 2011. He also was a project manager for Odom Remodeling (2008-11), superintendent for WestPoint Home at the Carter/Lanier Plant (2004-08) and department manager (2001-04) and supervisor (1998-01) for WestPoint Stevens at the Opelika Mill. He earned a bachelor’s degree in textile engineering from Auburn University in 1998.

According to the agenda, seven candidates applied to be the plant services director, including three from inside the system, and four were interviewed, including two from inside the system.

OTHER ACTION

The board also approved Lewis’ recommendations, with 8-0 votes, to:

▪  Hire the team of Freeman & Associates and Ra-Lin & Associates as construction manager at risk for the $56 million project that will produce a new Spencer High School, funded by the 1 percent Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax county voters renewed in March 2015 for another five years. According to the agenda, five contractor teams responded to the administration’s request for proposals. The other companies that made bids are Brasfield & Gorrie, Caddell Construction, Parrish Construction Group and the team of Thayer-Bray Construction and Balfour Beatty Construction.

▪  Hire spArchitect to design the additions and alterations at Northside High School, including the expansion of the cafeteria and the weight room. The SPLOST will fund the budgetary impact of $1,190,000. No information was provided on the agenda about whether any other firms were considered.

▪  Allow Baker Middle School to implement a school uniform dress code. In the school’s survey, 100 percent of the 44 faculty members and 85 percent of the 134 responding parents favored the proposal.

▪  Allow Columbus High School to name its auditorium in honor of Morton Harris, the acclaimed attorney and former school board member (1973-82) who led the school’s alumni association.

This story was originally published April 18, 2016 at 9:17 PM with the headline "Muscogee County School Board approves 2 principals, 3 directors."