Several leadership changes in county schools for new year
As educators are preparing for the start of the new school year on Aug. 19, the Franklin County School System has undergone several administrative changes in recent weeks.
Franklin County Schools Superintendent Gary Williams said one of the latest changes is the loss of Phil Campbell High School Principal Cindy Davis, whose last day was July 19.
“Mrs. Davis had aspirations to relocate to the Huntsville area, and recently things fell into place for her to receive the position of assistant principal at Sparkman High School, so she made the decision to accept that position,” Williams said.
“Mrs. Davis did an outstanding job during her four years as principal of Phil Campbell High School and she will be missed.
“I don’t know of any single person who could have done a better job under the circumstances she faced during that four years.”
Davis had only been principal of PCHS for a little more than a year when the school was destroyed by the EF-5 tornado on April 27, 2011.
“That was such a devastating time and it really would have been easy for things to quickly fall apart, but Mrs. Davis stepped in and really handled the situation as good as anyone could have,” Williams said.
“We only missed two days of school. Mrs. Davis was instrumental in working with the administration at Northwest-Shoals Community College and got classes going again to finish out the school year.
“She was also helpful in getting the mobile units organized and keeping everything together when those transitions had to be made.
“She was a great asset to our school system and to the Phil Campbell community and we wish her the best in her future endeavors.”
Williams said the central office has been receiving applications for the position of principal at PCHS and careful consideration will go into this decision.
“This is a more unique situation than it would be to hire a principal at a school under normal circumstances,” Williams said.
“The person we hire to be the new principal at Phil Campbell is going to still face challenges trying to run a school that is still in the temporary units.
“We’re still at least one more school year away from being in the new school building, and there will be a lot of transitions the school will be going through.
“Also, the new principal will only have two weeks to get acclimated to that special set of circumstances before school starts back, so we are carefully considering the right person for this position.”
Williams said he expects the Franklin County School Board to fill the position at their meeting on Aug. 6.
Other administrative changes that have taken place in the county school system over the summer include the retirement of longtime Franklin County Career Technical Center director Herbert Trulove, who officially retired on July 1.
Williams said East Franklin Junior High School principal Scott Wiginton would take over as the director at FCCTC having spent 14 years as the ag teacher at PCHS before his three years as principal at EFJHS.
“The Career Tech Center is a real asset to our school system and Mr. Trulove did an excellent job during his time there,” Williams said.
“When we were looking for someone to take his place after his retirement, Mr. Wiginton seemed like such a great fit with his administrative experience and his background in ag education.
“He had expressed that he really believes career technical education is his calling, so I’m expecting great things from him in this new position.”
Williams said former Bear Creek Elementary teacher and reading coach Nancy Hallman would take Wiginton’s spot as the new principal at EFJHS.
