The Columbus Municipal School District named principals for Columbus High School and Columbus Middle School today during a special board meeting of the Board of Trustees.
The two new principals will be familiar faces to parents and students; both are longtime assistant principals at the schools they will now run. Jill Savely will be the new principal at the high school, and Freda Dismukes will take the helm at the middle school.
Four people applied for the middle school position, and Savely was the sole applicant for the high school, Deputy Superintendent Craig Shannon confirmed. The jobs were posted internally and were not advertised elsewhere, because the board felt good applicants were available internally, he said.
Savely has served seven years as assistant principal at CHS and was a biology teacher at the school for two years.
She was arrested by Lowndes County sheriff’s deputies on Oct. 2, 2010 and charged with several traffic violations, including driving under influence.
She was found guilty of speeding, careless driving and first-offense DUI on Dec. 8, 2010 by District 1 Justice Court Judge Peggy Phillips. She appealed the guilty conviction on the misdemeanor DUI charge.
In 2009, Savely was named District Administrator of the Year.
The biggest challenge at the high school will be establishing an atmosphere of consistency, Savely said this morning. The seniors have seen three principals come and go, and teachers have served under five principals in the past eight years.
She said she doesn’t anticipate making a lot of changes to what former Principal Scott Hallmark was doing prior to his departure. In his one-year tenure, Hallmark earned both praise and criticism for his record as a strong disciplinarian.
He was among the 69 teachers and certified staff who were told in February their contracts would not be renewed, due to a district-wide attempt to reduce personnel costs. Hallmark accepted a position last month as principal of North Pike High School in Summit.
Dismukes has served five years as assistant principal at CMS. Prior to that, she taught six years at Hunt Intermediate School and two years in Georgia and Alabama.
She said she applied for the job because she wanted to continue the positive relationships she has developed with parents and students, and she looks forward to continue to work as a team with the CMS staff.
Also during the meeting, the board approved teacher contracts for the upcoming year.
Carmen K. Sisson is the former news editor at The Dispatch.
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