By By Lisa Tindell
Escambia County High School will have an interim principal for at least a year, school board members decided Thursday.
Only two candidates for the position of principal at Escambia County High School in Atmore were found to be qualified following a review of applicants by the Escambia County Board of Education's screening committee.
As a result, Superintendent Billy Hines made a recommendation to board members during Thursday's meeting that Carl Raley be named interim principal.
"We only had two candidates who met all of the qualifications for the position of principal at ECHS," Hines told the board. "Because of that, we believe it would be in the best interest of the school to appoint an interim principal and reopen the position at a later date."
Raley is an administrator already on staff at ECHS.
Eddie Hill, a representative of the Alabama Board of Education, agreed with Hines.
"With such a short window to work in before school begins, I believe Mr. Hines' suggestion would be best for the school," Hill said. "To re-advertise the position at a later date would allow an opportunity to collect a better pool of candidates for selection."
Hines recommended to the board to place Raley in the interim principal's position at ECHS for a period of one year. The position was left vacant following the resignation of Kyle Ferguson, who will be taking a principal position at Thomasville High School.
Also during Thursday's meeting, the board agreed to accept the resignation of David McKinley, who will become the principal at Trussville High School this fall.
"Linda Shuford will be taking on the position left by David's (McKinley) resignation," Hines said.
The board approved the change of Shuford's contract to a 212-day contract opposed to the 202-day contract effective July 19 for the position of assistant principal at ECHS.
Hines said the position for principal at ECHS will be re-advertised beginning in January with a minimum two weeks advertisement.
"We will advertise the position for at least 14 days as is required by law," Hines said. "We are planning that advertisement for January 2008. Although we only have to run the ad for two weeks, we can advertise the position longer if we see fit. We want to do what it takes to make sure that the people served by Escambia County High School get the best qualified person who is the best all-around person for the school as principal. With our plan, we will have ample time to make the right decision for the school."
In other business, Hines reported to the board on the condition of school buses to be used in the system.
"We have 101 busses in our system," Hines said. "Inspectors checked out our buses and found only two problems that our mechanics had repaired before they left the site. I want to commend Larry Davis in our Atmore shop and Bill West in the East Brewton shop, as well as the mechanics at each shop, for the great job they do to keep our busses running and in the best condition possible."
A number of personnel issues were addressed by board members. Those hires, transfers and other changes are: