When Will Mt. Hebron Get a Principal?

Clarence C. Hoover, acting as interim schools superintendent now that Superintendent Frank Alvarez has stepped down, has sent a note to Mount Hebron Middle School parents and staff, admitting that the search for a new principal at Mount Hebron had not yet produced an adequate candidate.

But he promised to make the search his top priority.

"I have already committed additional district resources and personnel to the successful opening of Mount Hebron in September," he said.

Hoover said that he fully anticipates he will be able to communicate a solution to the school’s administrative needs by the week of July 9.

"I want to re-assure you that this does not mean we are waiting to address the curriculum and program needs," he said. "Those needs are well on their way to completion using our current staff and resources."

The district’s continued goal, Hoover reiterated, is to be ready in September for a smooth and successful school opening.

 in May—to the surprise of many parents and teachers—that Mount Hebron Principal Guy Whitlock would be transferred to the district's Central Office this summer.

Whitlock, who taught Social Studies and Language Arts at Mount Hebron during the 1990s before serving as the assistant to Alvarez, took over as principal in July 2010.

Under Whitlock's direction, Mount Hebron has been undergoing a transformation in its curriculum, with plans to add several new electives in the fall of 2012.

At a meeting in June, school board members said they are very excited about the changes taking place at Mount Hebron, noting that booklets outlining all the new electives already had been distributed to the school's students.

But many parents at Mount Hebron say they are still not sure why the school board would transfer Whitlock, a prinicpal admired by many parents and staff members at the middle school.