By Brittany Whitley

Published: May 9, 2008

Smiths Station High School is getting a new principal while administrators at other schools in the area are playing musical chairs.

Joaquin Richards, interim principal at Wacoochee Junior High School, will go to Smiths Station High School as assistant principal, Lee County Schools Superintendent Dr. Stephen Nowlin said.

Smiths Station Intermediate School Principal Rick Harris will move to Wacoochee Junior High to fill the position Richards is vacating, he said.

And finally, Kathie Ledbetter, current principal at Smiths Station High School, will move to Smiths Station Intermediate.

Ledbetter has been serving as principal at the high school for two years, Nowlin said. Before that, she spent 10 to 12 years as an elementary school principal.

“We’re not moving any principal because they are not good principals,” Nowlin said, “(We are) just trying to get them where they’re the strongest based on training and experience.”

The hiring process for the high school began on Thursday and continued through Friday.

On Thursday, Jason Yohn, principal at Dadeville High School in Tallapoosa County, interviewed for the position.

On Friday, David Sikes, principal of Robert E. Lee High School in Montgomery, interviewed.

Nowlin said an interview committee has been set up to pick the new principal.

The committee consists of four teachers from Smiths Station High School representing different areas of the school, including a teacher representative from the career technology program, a teacher from the fine arts division, a person from athletics and administration and a teacher representing the core curriculum at the school.

There are also two directors from the central office on the committee, along with Nowlin.

As of right now, applications are still being accepted, Nowlin said.

“(We are) looking for somebody who is a veteran high school principal who could be successful and do all the things necessary to take a very large 6-A school and make it continue to get better all the time … in all areas,” Nowlin said.

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