COASTAL OBSERVER

As the Georgetown County School District prepares to winnow the candidates to be the next Waccamaw High School principal, the superintendent asked parents and the community what they want in the new leader.

“I want to give folks a voice in this process. To find out the key characteristics of what they’re looking for in their next leader,” Superintendent Keith Price said at a forum at the school this week. “Ideally we could find someone that checks every box that was mentioned here tonight. That might be possible. But we want to find who is the best fit for this opportunity.”

David Hammel was named interim principal in July after the district demoted Adam George after a senior prank at the school.

Hammel was the school’s principal from 2008 to 2018 and agreed to return for one year.

A suggestion that the district hire someone who could “handle” parents was met by a round of applause.

“Unfortunately the parents have been given so much leeway to run the school,” the woman said. “We need someone who can reel in the parents.”

Another speaker said parents on the Waccamaw Neck are “very different” than the rest of the county and the principal needs to understand the dynamics of the school and how parents, students and teachers all work together.

Someone else said the principal needs to understand there is a mix of extreme wealth and extreme poverty on the Waccamaw Neck. 

“We had a similar discussion with the faculty and staff and they talked about someone who is going to embrace diversity; the differences that students and families bring about,” Price said. “Diversity means a lot of different things. Someone who is going to recognize that, invest in that and celebrate that within a school.”

Some of the attributes that people said they were looking for included: a “unifier” of parents, teachers, students and community; a proven track record of recruiting and retaining teachers; a leader who is visible in hallways and classrooms and hands on; and someone who supports band, choir, robotics, and the academic and speech teams as much as the sports teams.

Before the community meeting, district staff met with the school’s teachers. Another meeting is planned with a group of students, Price said.

“It won’t be all seniors. It won’t be all honor students,” he added. “It will be a diverse group of students who come in.” 

Two parents asked Price to consider including eighth-graders in that group since they will be at the high school next year. He said he would consider it.

The district’s human resources staff will vet the applications to make sure the candidates meet the qualifications for the job.

The next step in the process will be recorded Q&As with some of the candidates to put a face and a voice with the résumés.

“Asking the right kinds of questions will give us the opportunity to hear how their personal experiences and beliefs connect with what these folks are sharing with us, that our community and our faculty and staff are sharing with us,” Price said. “It’s really an informative process.”

Sometimes the answer to one question can make a candidate stand out, or prove that someone who looks good on paper is not the right person for the job, Price added.

Based on those Q&As, applicants will be chosen for in-person interviews with a panel of school and district staff, parents and members of the community. 

The district’s goal is for the school board to approve Waccamaw High’s new principal by the end of March.

The new principal will not take over until July 1. However, Price hopes the new principal to spend a few weeks at the school with Hammel in June.

The district is also looking for new principals for Rosemary Middle School and Carvers Bay Early College and Career High School.

Price said the application process is specific to each school. Candidates cannot apply to be a high school principal. They have to apply for either Waccamaw or Carvers Bay.

“We’re looking for someone who wants to be the principal at that specific school because we want there to be a commitment there,” he added.

Unlike in the past, the district has no plans to host public meet-and-greets if multiple finalists are chosen for the three positions, Price said, adding that  school PTOs usually host events to introduce the new principals to the communities.

The district has extended the application deadline for all three positions to Monday at 11:59 p.m.