Carmichaels Area hires principal and realigns administrative staff
CARMICHAELS – Carmichaels Area School Board voted to hire a new junior-senior high principal Thursday, realigning administrative staff as it prepares for the retirement of Superintendent Craig Baily at the end of the current school year.
The board, at a meeting Aug. 15, had voted to transfer Dave Bates, assistant junior-senior high principal, to the position of assistant elementary principal. It then hired Felix Verace, a teacher in the South Fayette School District, to replace Bates as assistant junior-senior high principal.
Verace, however, later declined to accept the position, opting to remain at South Fayette in his current teaching position.
Instead of hiring another assistant principal to replace Verace, the board at Thursday’s special meeting voted to hire Lisa Zdravecky as the junior-senior high principal.
Zdravecky, a Monongahela native, is now an assistant high school principal at Battlefield High School in the Prince William County Public Schools near Manassass, Va. Her salary was set at $75,000.
John Menhart, the current junior-senior high principal, will remain a principal at the school and mentor Zdravecky, Baily said.
Menhart had been appointed acting assistant superintendent for the current school year in July, apparently to position him to succeed Baily as superintendent.
Baily said the changes were made by the board in preparation for his retirement in June. Baily has served as superintendent for the last seven years. Before assuming the position, he was a teacher, assistant principal and principal in the district.
No changes were made in elementary. Rob Cole will remain as principal and Bates as assistant principal.
In other business, the board discussed the district’s dress policy, apparently after members received complaints about enforcement of the policy regarding the length of shorts.
The district’s policy requires shorts be no shorter than three inches above the knee cap. Some parents apparently believe that requirement is too strict.
The board had revised the dress policy last year, but the policy was only implemented this year so students would not have to purchase new clothing last year to comply. The policy change was explained in the district’s newsletter to parent.
Administrators were asked to contact other districts to find out what there restrictions are regarding the length of shorts.