By By Adrienne McKenzie
The Blue Devils are now in search of two new leaders instead of one.
Not only has Escambia County High School principal Kyle Ferguson resigned, but assistant principal David McKinley also put in his resignation Wednesday.
McKinley has accepted a job as assistant principal at Hewitt-Trussville High School in Trussville, which is in the Birmingham area.
McKinley said although he was born and bred in Atmore and is a Blue Devil at heart, the position at Hewitt-Trussville was something he could not pass up.
"I was born and raised here in Atmore," he said. "I played on the state championship football team in 1974 and graduated from ECHS in 1975. I've worked 17 and a half years in the school system and seven years as assistant principal here, but it's just time to move on. My children are grown and it's just me and I'm ready to start a new chapter in my life. I started looking in the spring of this year and while I had other offers, this was the fit for me to go to Trussville City Schools."
McKinley said it is a bittersweet moment to leave his alma mater and to leave those he has worked with for so many years.
"I'm going to miss all the teachers I've worked with over the past seven years," McKinley said. "I really will miss my students. We've got some of the best kids at Escambia County High School that you could ask for."
McKinley said that with the loss of Ferguson and now himself, the community needs to pull together in support of the school.
"Now is the time for this community to support Escambia County High School," he said. "The community needs to help the school instead of doing anything to tear it down."
McKinley and Escambia County schools superintendent Billy Hines agree that the school is left in good hands with assistant principal Linda Shuford and resource teacher Carl Raley.
"We've got Linda Shuford and Carl Raley and both of them are working together to prepare for the first of school," Hines said. "We are still pressing on."
McKinley said Raley has been at ECHS for six years and knows what to do to keep the school running.
"He knows where everything is and how to pick up where we've left off," McKinley said. "He's also a graduate of ECHS and a Blue Devil through and through."
Although McKinley is headed to Trussville, he said nobody could take away his ECHS pride.
"While I'm going to a different school system, I'm always going to be a Blue Devil," McKinley said.