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"I think we had a good process, and I'd like to thank the Blue Ridge interview team," McCary said. "They didn't choose the principal, but they were involved in identifying the qualities needed in a principal."
Committee members interviewed three of the five candidates who applied for the position, McCary said.
Douthitt's contract will be for two years, and he will receive an annual salary of $60,000 ($57,400 from state funds and $2,600 from local funds), said school system finance officer David Steinbicker.
Douthitt, who began his educational career in 1969 as a Teacher Corps intern at Canada School (consolidated with Camp Lab in 1982; Camp Lab became Cullowhee Valley in 1994), brings international experience to Blue Ridge.
He joined the faculty of the southern Jackson County school in February 2000 as language arts instructor for the seventh and eighth grades after a three-year stint in Saudi Arabia, where he was with the training department of the Arabian American Oil Co.
Douthitt was affiliated with local real estate firm Western Carolina Properties from 1993-97. Prior to that he was a consultant with Washington, D.C., firm Boozallen and Hamilton, where he was the English language training manager for Saudi Arabia and coordinated English language training for the Royal Saudi Navy.
It was his experience at Canada School more than three decades ago that brought Douthitt back to Jackson County, he said.
"That one year convinced me that Jackson County was where I wanted to make my home," he said.
Douthitt, a Peace Corps volunteer in Libya in 1969 when Moamar Qadaffi came to power, was expelled from the country along with other English teachers. Given the choice of another overseas Peace Corps assignment or participation in Teacher Corps, Douthitt opted for Teacher Corps and remembers the atmosphere at the tiny Canada School as "welcoming and hospitable."
Douthitt received a bachelor's degree in political science from Oklahoma State University in 1968. He holds two master's degrees - English as a second language from American University in Cairo and elementary education from Western Carolina University - and a doctorate in international/intercultural development education from Florida State University. He completed coursework for his administrative certification at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 1991.
Douthitt lives in Tuckasegee. He and his wife, Pamela , a first-grade teacher at Cullowhee Valley, have two children - Brianna, a rising junior at Smoky Mountain High, and Charles, who has completed two years at WCU and plans to transfer to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
In other administrative appointments, school board members named Haywood County educator Karen Schneider assistant principal and announced the upcoming transfer of Scotts Creek Assistant Principal Steve Jones to the Central Office.
Schneider, currently a counselor at Hazelwood Elementary, will bring 19 years of educational experience to her new position. She has worked both as a counselor and a classroom teacher.
Schneider also received a two-year contract, Steinbicker said. She will be paid $46,849, which will be based on 11 months of employment, and will come from a combination of state and local funds, Steinbicker said.
The interview committee was impressed with the way she summarized the priorities of what an assistant principal needs to do.
"I think she will bring an overall knowledge base, not only of what students need academically but what they need socially, especially at the middle school level," said CVS Principal Theresa Peters. "I see her relating very well to the community."
Schneider began her career at Port Malabar Elementary in Palm Beach, Fla., and came to Haywood County in 1996. She was a counselor at Canton Middle School until 2001 when she transferred to Hazelwood.
She earned her bachelor's degree from the University of Central Florida in Orlando and her master's from Novasoutheastern University in Ft. Lauderdale. She is currently pursuing her doctorate at WCU.
Jones, who has been at Scotts Creek for the past four school years, will replace vocational and maintenance director Arlin Middleton, who will retire in August.
His title will be director of school system Improvement, McCary said, and Jones will oversee technology and assist with planning both for the school system and its individual schools.
Jones will also direct the school system's maintenance department, McCary said.
Contract and salary information had not been finalized at press time, Steinbicker said.
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Douthitt
