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School officials could name SMH principal during Friday session
By Lynn Hotaling
and Carey Phillips
Local school officials could remove the "interim" from Alex Bell's title later this week.
School Board Chairman James Roper confirmed that naming a permanent principal for the county's largest school, Smoky Mountain High, is expected to be discussed during a 10 a.m. special school board meeting Friday, March 26, and action may be taken.
Sources indicate that five candidates, including SMHS Interim Principal Bell and former Blue Ridge Principal Lib Balcerek, have been interviewed. Sources indicate Bell is the recommendation of a principal search committee made up of SMHS teachers and support personnel.
Bell, who was an assistant principal at SMHS for two years, took over the school's top administrative job July 29 in the wake of the suspension and dismissal of veteran Principal Kenny Nicholson.
Local officials are also considering the status of all school system administrators whose contracts are up for renewal this year, Roper said.
Apparently sparked by concern for the jobs of Principal Terry Clark and Assistant Principal Loretta Easton, some 25 teachers and teacher assistants from Smokey Mountain Elementary School crowded the hallway of the school system's Central Office Monday (March 22) prior to the school board's regular meeting.
Two SMES teachers, Sherry Hooper and Dottie Coone, addressed the board in order to share with board members the positive things that have occurred at the elementary school during the past two years, Hooper said.
As Hooper approached the podium, all the others from SMES clustered behind her.
Among the many accomplishments cited by Hooper was the fact that SMES was the only Jackson County school to achieve adequate yearly progress under new federal legislation known as No Child Left Behind.
Under its current leadership, the staff at SMES has raised academic expectations, increased test scores, added incentives for student achievement, reinstated the student council, implemented the middle school concept, made safety improvements, improved parent/teacher communication, improved the relationship between school administrators and Cherokee tribal leaders and many more, Hooper said.
"We're proud of these accomplishments," she said.
"We're here to express our support for our school and let you know how proud we are to work at Smokey Mountain Elementary," Coone told board members.
Roper declined comment on the status of any individual administrators. Board members met in closed session both before and after Superintendent Sue Nations' 4 p.m. swearing-in ceremony.
Several anonymous callers to The Herald over the past few days indicated they had heard board members did not plan to re-hire Clark and Easton when their contracts expire in June.
"We're happy with our current administration, and we don't want to lose them," one caller said. "We've accomplished a lot in a short time, and I don't believe we could have accomplished that without Terry and Loretta."
When reached Tuesday afternoon, Clark said the school board has given her no indication either way about her status for next year. She said she had heard that members of her staff addressed school officials Monday.
"We have a loyal, dedicated faculty at Smokey Mountain," Clark said. "They don't want a change; they need some stability to continue to grow and move forward.
"They wanted to make a statement that we work extremely hard, we love our kids, and we're making progress," Clark said.
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