New LHS Principal Chosen, Other School District Positions Still Empty
Laramie High School Assistant Principal Chuck Kern has been selected to become the new LHS principal.
Albany County School District No. 1 Superintendent Jubal Yennie said Kern, who will become principal on July 1, has served as assistant principal for four years.
“We found a great leader to replace Stacy Bush,” Yennie said.
In early January LHS Principal Stacy Bush announced her resignation, which will take effect at the end of the current academic year.
The position of LHS principal is not the only spot the school district needs to fill. Kern’s move to principal will leave vacant his previous assistant principal position, two of which are currently unfilled.
Yennie said he is not sure whether the school will keep the same structure at the high school as in previous years and the district may end up having only two assistant principals, rather than three.
"We are going through a bit of restructuring," Yennie said.
The assistant principal positions are joined by multiple administrative jobs that the school district is tasked with filling.
Laramie Junior High Principal Debbie Pinney Fisher and Vice Principal Rob Bainer both recently announced plans to retire.
The district may also be looking to fill it's assistant superintendent position. Yennie said that while Mike Hamel will be employed in the school district, he is not sure whether it will be in the role of assistant superintendent.
"It is my expectation that he will be coming back next year," Yennie said.
Yennie said the numerous vacancies are due to timing and Laramie residents should not read too much into it.
“People are just getting on with their lives and it happened all at once,” Yennie said.
Yennie said he doesn’t anticipate the positions will be hard to fill.
“We’ve got a lot of great educators waiting in the wings,” Yennie said.
Yennie said the district is working to replace the staff and has already held interviews this week with six candidates for the junior high positions. Yennie said he expects those positions to be filled in the next few weeks.
After those jobs are filled, Yennie said, the district will move on to the assistant principal positions.