Board chooses principals for Northside, intermediate schools

SILOAM SPRINGS — Two School District employees were chosen to lead Northside Elementary School and Siloam Springs Intermediate School next fall, Superintendent Jody Wiggins announced during a School Board meeting last week.

Current assistant high school principal Jerrie Price will be transferred to Northside Elementary School principal in place of Michelle Paden, who is being transferred to Allen Elementary School, Wiggins said. Current assistant middle school principal Justin Blanchard will be transferred to the position of intermediate school principal in place of Tim Hornbuckle, who took a job in another district next year.

Micah Cummings was also transferred from a middle school seventh-grade math teacher to middle school assistant principal starting in the fall and Macey Miller transferred from her position of intermediate school fifthgrade language arts teacher to Southside Elementary thirdgrade teacher, Wiggins said.

The School District formed hiring committees for the positions and there were originally two separate hiring committees for the principal positions, Wiggins said. Because almost all the candidates applied for both principal positions, the committees were combined and interviewed for both positions at the same time.

The committee interviewed seven people, including two in-house candidates and five outside candidates, Wiggins said. Because the employment changes were transfers instead of new hires, they didn’t require school board approval, he said.

In other business, the board approved policy changes recommended by the Arkansas School Board Association. The changes included updates to the licensed and classified employee salary schedules, already approved by the School Board in March, will add $1,250 to the base annual teacher salary and give classified staff a 3.125 percent raise starting next year.

Other updates included changes to the certified and classified employee school calendar, family medical leave, drug testing, and mandated reporter duties, as well as changes to the licensed personnel grievance policy.

School Board members accepted the resignations of Adam Hansen, intermediate school fifth-grade science teacher; Mary Cole, Allen Elementary School nurse; and Bethany Freeman, middle school speech language pathologist.

The board approvbed hiring Heather Hinesley, middle school assistant band director,and Madison VanAllen, Southside Elementary School third-grade math teacher.