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Principal search narrowed to six

By Jared Felkins
The Times-Journal

Published November 6, 2009

Fort Payne City schools superintendent Jimmy Cunningham said Friday the list of nearly 30 candidates to be the new Fort Payne High School principal has been narrowed to six.

“We looked at experience and also certification,” Cunningham said. “All the candidates had certification, except for one. In experience, being the principal of a Class 5A high school is not a position to cut your teeth on. We looked at experience and how much each has in administration.”

Cunningham said candidate interviews will start Monday and would continue through Nov. 16.

The six candidates are:

• Roger Wilkinson, assistant principal at Etowah High School for the past four years.

• Robert McIntosh, principal at Miller County High School in Colquitt, Ga. for the past three years. McIntosh also served as principal for seven years prior at a middle school in the same system.

• Joe Champion, assistant principal at Central Middle School in Madison County for the past three years.

• Heath Swisher, special education coordinator at the Guntersville City schools central office for the past eight years. Swisher was the Guntersville Middle School principal for six years prior.

• Brian Jett, principal at Williams Avenue Elementary School in Fort Payne for the past four years, Jett previously served as assistant principal at Fort Payne Middle School for three years prior.

• Dwight Satterfield, principal at Decatur Middle School for the past five years.

Cunningham said he’d like to see a principal hired by sometime in December.

The new principal will replace Ronnie Crabtree, who was promoted in September to an administrative assistant’s position in the central office.

Crabtree will remain as FPHS principal until the position is filled. He will fill a position created in September when Pat Horton was promoted to assistant superintendent and state funding was granted for the position.

Crabtree will be responsible for supervising vocational opportunities at the high school, the community education director of HIPPY and the Extended Day Program, coordinate student and employee drug testing, coordinate teacher and other employee evaluations, coordinate school safety and planning, will be the alternative school hearing officer and textbook coordinator.

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