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School District 47 shuffles principals

New administrators take over at three schools this fall
prinicipals
DOING THE SHUFFLE: Current Brooks Secondary School principal Jamie Burt will be transferring in the fall to become principal at Westview Elementary School. Brooks is one of three schools with head administrators moving as part of a regular transition within School District 47. David Brindle photo

When the next school year starts, being called into the principal’s office will be different for students and teachers at Brooks Secondary, Westview Elementary, Kelly Creek Community and Assumption schools. While the offices may be the same, new principals will be behind the desks.

On Tuesday, April 4, School District 47 sent an email to all parents and guardians regarding administrative appointments and transfers for the 2017/2018 school year.

Three transfers include current Brooks principal Jamie Burt moving to Westview, current Westview principal Scott Fisher taking charge of Kelly Creek and current Kelly Creek principal Bill Rounis heading to Brooks.

According to school district superintendent Jay Yule, these are regular transfers that facilitate a model for professional growth and varied teaching approaches within the schools.

“It’s a combination of people’s personal preferences, our belief to not have schools be stagnant and to have people move around,” said Yule, “because they bring a variety of experiences and skill sets that are all unique.”

The practice of administrative transfers is common throughout the province and moving principals around is good for taking on varied challenges, said Yule.

For Burt, the time to make the move to Westview was right, he said.

“I’ve really enjoyed my time at Brooks,” said Burt. “I’m going to miss the kids and colleagues, but change is always good. At different times in your career we’re lucky we can move around. I’m excited about this move.”

Yule said Rounis has the most secondary school administrative experience. He was a vice-principal at that level in Nanaimo and moving into an elementary school when he arrived in Powell River was a new experience.

With just under three months remaining in the school year, Rounis said he is still thinking about what he can do with a little more time at Kelly Creek, where specific attention has been placed on creating different and progressive programs that were being developed when he arrived.

“There’s a good feeling and people are really excited about some of the things happening here,” said Rounis. “It’s always a progression: the outdoor learning, the sustainability, the pieces around the outdoor-adventure program and where that’s going.”

As an example of the how outdoor programs have evolved at Kelly Creek, Rounis said a group of kids were recently in Tofino with a teacher “hitting the waves.”

Brooks teacher Tony Rice, who was vice-principal at the secondary school until returning to the classroom this year, has witnessed similar appointments and transfers many times before. In 20 years of teaching at the high school level, Rice said he has seen changes at the top as being positive education experiences.

“It’s a good thing about a small district,” said Rice. “There’s always an opportunity for some internal change. People get to bring new ideas to new places.”

Rice said it is like shuffling a deck of cards and keeping it fresh for everybody. Because education is consistently evolving, staff should do the same, he added.

“There are positives and negatives,” said Rice, “but things can become stale if you don’t change things up with kids, teachers and administrators. These kinds of changes are natural.”

Not only is change good for education in general, change is easier in Powell River than in larger centres because the district is smaller and all of the teachers know each other, according to Rice.

Yule said the transfers, while at the discretion of the superintendent, are usually by mutual agreement.

“We’re small, so we talk; we’re always having those discussions,” said Yule. “I have opportunities to sit down with principals each year, talk about their plans for the future and whether they’ve accomplished what they’d set out to do. Do they have projects in the works? Are they interested in moving? Then we talk about things we’re looking at doing at different schools. It’s a collaborative discussion, definitely.”

Meanwhile, at Assumption School, which is private and not part of the school district, Lisa Berg will become the new principal on September 1. Berg replaces longtime principal Mimi Richardson, who is retiring at the end of this school year.