Overstreet Elementary School has a new interim principal after the Starkville Oktibbeha Consolidated School District Board moved former principal Tim Bourne to a new administrative position at Tuesday’s meeting.
At the meeting, trustees named Bourne the director of Accountability, Accreditation and Assessment for the district. The board also named Cynthia Milons, head teacher at Starkville High School, Overstreet’s interim principal.
Both have taken their new positions effective immediately. Bourne’s salary is $87,428. Milon’s is $75,000.
District Public Information Officer Nicole Thomas confirmed the district will conduct a search for a new principal at Overstreet later in the school year.
Bourne has worked with the school district since 2001. He began working with the then Starkville School District as a science teacher, and has since gained 15 years of experience as a principal and assistant principal, including at Armstrong Middle School and Overstreet. Bourne was named principal at Overstreet last summer when the board approved switching him with former Overstreet Principal Julie Kennedy. Kennedy is now the principal at AMS.
Milons has worked with the district since 2009. She started as an English teacher and has recently finished her first year as Starkville High School’s head teacher.
Board member Lee Brand said he feels the position changes will allow both Bourne and Milons to use their strengths to benefit the district. He said Bourne’s new position will help take data for the district as a whole and break it down for use at the classroom level.
“Mr. Bourne has shown that he’s strong with his understanding of data,” Brand said. “This would give him a chance to use those abilities to benefit the district.
“With Ms. Milons serving in the interim position (at Overstreet), it’s not only good for her but for the district as well,” he added.
In a district press release, SOCSD Superintendent Eddie Peasant echoed those sentiments, saying their strengths make them “uniquely qualified” for the positions.
“Bourne has a passion for data and how it should be used to drive instruction,” he said. “Milons is an excellent teacher leader with a knowledge and understanding innovative, engaging classroom instruction, and she’s committed to building strong relationships that foster and support our students and teachers.”
Board member Keith Coble said trustees were impressed with a data room at Overstreet Elementary during a tour. He said a presentation at the school showed how students were kept aware of their academic progress toward meeting various achievement levels on state testing.
“We thought of the great presentation he, and in fact, his students did, because the students were taking responsibility for their own data,” Coble said. “It’s indicative of his ability to handle data, and that’s what his new role is going to be doing.
“The students knew where they were and how much better they had to do,” he added. “We could see every class. He will be doing that for the district as a whole.”
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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