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For new principal, it's like coming home
By BARBARA BEHRENDT
© St. Petersburg Times, INVERNESS -- Kelly Tyler has been recommended as the new principal at Lecanto High School. There are two parts of that new job he especially would enjoy. He would be back in daily contact with students. And he would continue some of the initiatives he helped develop the past six years as the district's coordinator of vocational and adult education. Tyler's appointment is one of a series of personnel recommendations that Superintendent David Hickey will make to the School Board at Tuesday's special meeting. Hickey also has recommended that Bill Humbaugh become supervisor of purchasing, a new job the School Board approved last week. Humbaugh was not reappointed to his current job: executive director of support services. Also on the next agenda is a request to lengthen the contract year of the assistant director for evening programs at Withlacoochee Technical Institute from 216 days to 251 days and 12 new position requests, primarily for teacher aides. Another series of new position requests prompted some opposition from the School Board last week. Board members expressed concern about spending additional dollars when the annual budget was not yet set and when no pay raise proposals had been presented to teachers and other employees. If approved by the board, Tyler would take over for Steve Richardson, who is the district's new personnel director. For Tyler, 48, taking the Lecanto High principalship would be a bit like returning home. Prior to his appointment to the county office, Tyler had served five years as activities director and assistant principal at Lecanto. Before that he was a agriculture teacher there. "When you work with students directly as I did for 18 years as a teacher, you miss that. The kids keep you young and I did want to get back in that environment," he said. "There are a lot of dedicated, hard-working people who work here at the district office. But working at the district level, you miss out on the joy of education." Tyler said that one of his strengths would be a combination of district-level perspective and school experience. At a challenging time, when the district's high schools are facing major crowding problems, that experience would be a plus, he said. All three of the district's high schools will have new principals July 1. "Lecanto has a strong staff and a strong faculty and I'm looking forward to it," he said. But Tyler said there are some mixed emotions because he has enjoyed his work on career-preparation projects at the district level. He has asked Hickey if he can continue as chairman of the strategic aims committee, which is working on career opportunities. Lecanto is piloting a significant career-preparation program, and Tyler said he is glad he would be able to work directly with that new program at the school.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
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