West High Principal Search

A strongly substantiated rumor has it the Ed Holmes, the current principal of Wright Middle School, is all but certain to be selected as the next principal of West High School. People who are more informed and more involved at West than I am believe that Mr. Holmes would be a very bad match for West High.

Holmes has previously been turned down for two high school principal positions in the district. Assistant Superintendent Valencia Douglas had assured the West High community that a national search would be conducted for a new principal. However, this was not the case. The search, which began on March 31, was only a local search and some members of the search committee felt that none of the applicants were qualified to move on through the hiring process. The high school is going through a period of tremendous upheaval and change: the student demographics are very different from what they were 5-10 years ago presenting new challenges to teachers and staff, the school is being reorganized into small learning communities in an attempt to increase acheivement among low income and minority students, and there are the continuing issues related to budget issues and allocation of limited instructional dollars. West High needs a highly qualified high school principal at this critical juncture. Parents have been asked to contact Superintendent Art Rainwater and tell him that Ed Holmes is a bad match for West High and ask him to reopen the search process. Perhaps someone could be brought in to serve as an interim principal for a year while a more thorough search is conducted.

Posted by Jeff Henriques at June 9, 2004 6:05 PM
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