Last month, the Alleghany County School Board began the process of restructuring its administration by approving a new organizational chart.  During its meeting at Falling Spring Elementary School on Tuesday night, the School Board approved several reassignments associated with the new plan.

The reassignments will be effective July 1.  They include the transfer of Mr. R. Kenneth Higgins, Principal of Alleghany High School, to the School Board Office to serve as director of administrative services.  Mr. Fred Vaughan, the current interim director of administrative services, will replace Higgins as principal at Alleghany High School.

The organizational plan approved by the School Board on March 16 eliminated one elementary principal position and combined the leadership responsibilities of Boiling Spring and Falling Spring elementary schools under a single principal.  Mrs. Debbie Farmer, current principal of Falling Spring, was assigned Tuesday night to serve as the combined principal of both schools.

The School Board also removed the “interim” designation from his title and assigned Mr. J. Keven Rice to serve as Director of Budget and Finance on a permanent basis.

The new organizational plan also eliminated the position of assistant superintendent of instruction and shifted additional responsibilities to the current positions of supervisor of instruction, currently held by Ms. Mary Jane Mutispaugh, and supervisor of special education, currently held by Dr. Elizabeth Heath.  Since they will assume a significant number of new responsibilities, the supervisor positions were upgraded to the director level.  During Tuesday night’s meeting, the School Board assigned Mutispaugh and Heath to the restructured director positions.

“The majority of the areas of instructional oversight and supervision of personnel that are currently noted in my job description are being reassigned to Ms. Mutispaugh and Dr. Heath,” said Dr. Sarah T. Campbell, Alleghany County’s current assistant superintendent for instruction. “The additional responsibilities being transferred to these two individuals is justification for their reassignments from supervisors to directors of their respective areas.”

The administrative reassignments leave vacant the division-level director of student programs position and the Sharon Elementary School principal position.  “Both vacancies will be advertised within the school division,” said Dr. Robert Grimesey, Alleghany County’s school superintendent.  “We believe our local talent pool offers several promising combinations that may be recommended to the School Board in the near future.”

While Grimesey offered the formal recommendations to the School Board on Tuesday night, he credited Campbell “for her leadership in developing the recommendations.”  Campbell will replace Grimesey as superintendent on July 1.  Grimesey will leave Alleghany County in June to become superintendent of Orange County Public Schools.

 “I have complete confidence in all of these administrators,” Campbell said.  “Each of them is well qualified for their respective assignment, and each of them has demonstrated a commitment to our students and to the overall educational mission of Alleghany County Public Schools. I am convinced that these reassignments will yield positive results for our school division.”

Mr. Higgins, a native of Alleghany County, received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degree from Virginia Tech.   He has worked in Virginia public education for a total of 33 years.  Mr. Higgins began his career as a teacher with Clifton Forge City Schools and served as principal of Alleghany High School for the last nine years. His remaining 13 years of service were with Augusta, Campbell, and Rockingham counties.

“I look forward to meeting the needs of all Alleghany County Public School students,” Higgins said.  “My experiences in five school divisions prepared me for this new role in administrative services.  I believe it is time to turn over the leadership of Alleghany High School (AHS) to someone who can take the school to the next level. Whoever is appointed will inherit a great staff and wonderful students.  I wish everyone at AHS the best.”

Vaughan received his Bachelor of Science degree and his Master of Education degree from James Madison University.  He began his educational career teaching special education and coaching football and baseball at Randolph-Henry High School in Charlotte County.  He joined the Alleghany High School (AHS) faculty in 1985 and served 11 years as a special education teacher and coach.  He was appointed as AHS assistant principal and athletic director in 1998.  In 2000, he was appointed as principal at Boiling Spring Elementary School.   Since 2004, Mr. Vaughan has served as the school division’s director of student services. 

“While I enjoy my current role as a central office administrator, my true desire is to have the opportunity to interact with students and staff on a daily basis,” Vaughan said.   “I know the students and staff of Alleghany High School are among the best in the state, and I am excited to be part of this elite group.”

Downsizing the administrative capacity at Falling Spring and Boiling Spring was one of the School Board’s most difficult budget decisions this year, Grimesey said.  “Unfortunately, it also was too necessary to neglect,” he added.

The Alleghany school administration has projected a decline of 101 students in its enrollment through 2008-2011.  Since the decline is driven by the decreasing size of entering kindergarten classes, the impact is being felt most heavily in the elementary schools, Grimesey explained.  As the county’s two elementary schools with the smallest projected enrollments, Boiling Spring and Falling Spring offered the best combination for a merger of administrative responsibilities, he added.  The combined projected enrollment for both schools next year will be 302 students.  The Virginia Standards of Quality require only a half-time principal in elementary schools with enrollments below 300 students.

“The School Board would much prefer to maintain a full time principal in each school regardless of enrollment size,” Grimesey said.  “However, Virginia’s extraordinary budget crisis is forcing us to make many decisions that would have been unacceptable in the past.”  Alleghany County’s schools face a minimum $786,000 reduction in funding for 2009-2010.

Farmer was named principal at Falling Spring in 2005.  She began her teaching career at Callaghan Elementary in 1974.  She served as a classroom teacher and Title I reading teacher at Callaghan, Clifton Forge and Central elementary schools through 2001, when she was named assistant principal at Mountain View Elementary.  During Farmer’s tenure, Falling Spring has maintained its string of seven consecutive years of full state accreditation and five years of meeting all federal AYP requirements.  She holds a bachelor’s degree from Longwood College and a master’s degree from the University of Virginia.

Farmer is undaunted regarding her forthcoming role as a “shared principal” between two schools.  “I am confident in the experience of teachers at both of these schools,” she said.  “Both groups have demonstrated skills to ensure that students are successful.  I will depend on them to continue to do what they have been doing.  I know that these schools have the mental ‘can do’ attitudes to remain successful.”

Farmer added that both Boiling Spring and Falling Spring benefit from strong parental support.  “I am depending on that to continue,” she said.  “Our volunteers will be worth their weight in gold in the coming years.”