By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Dan Black will be moving offices this summer – but just a few feet – to Bowling Green High School principal from his current job as assistant principal.
And he is thrilled.
“To say I’m excited is an understatement,” Black said to the Bowling Green Board of Education this evening after a unanimous vote to hire him for the role.
“I’m excited to lead the staff going forward” and continue with work done by his predecessor Jeff Dever, Black said. Dever retires on July 31, and Black takes over on Aug. 1 with a base salary of $99,000.
“He’s just a great guy,” Dever said of his replacement, who has been his assistant principal for the past seven years.
“He knows the job,” Dever said. “His depth of knowledge is better than when I took over. Dan’s great. He’ll do a great job.”
Prior to the board’s vote, Superintendent Francis Scruci explained there are two schools of thought when hiring a new principal – hire from within for continuity or hire from outside for fresh eyes.
“Sometimes it’s necessary to look outside,” Scruci said before the meeting. But this isn’t one of those times.
Dever has been a “mainstay and cornerstone” of the high school, Scruci said. The loss of institutional knowledge at the high school will be great, he added.
But Black is up to the job, Scruci said.
“It is not a position where someone can cut their teeth,” he said.
Black taught in the middle school from 2006 to 2014, then became the high school assistant principal in 2014.
“What impressed me is that Dan had a plan,” Scruci said.
That plan includes recovering from COVID.
“We have to come out of this COVID pandemic,” and bridge the gaps faced by students, Black said after the meeting. “I want to start next year really strong. I’m excited to start next year, and get the kids excited.”
Black hopes to look at the high school programs and classes offered and “make sure we’re meeting all the needs.”
Becoming a principal has been a goal for Black, who grew up with a father employed as a school superintendent in Michigan for 20 years.
“I was fortunate enough to watch him,” Black said of his dad.
And Black is happy to work in the district where his family lives and his children attend school.
“It’s a great school. It’s a great district,” he said. “This is where I want to lead.”
Black was joined tonight for the special school board meeting by his family – his wife, Allie, and their three daughters, fifth grader Maddie, second grader Kendall, and kindergartner Laney. The girls sat patiently – with a promise of a stop for ice cream on the way home.
Scruci said the district will post the position of high school assistant principal starting Thursday.
Scruci talked about the retirements of Dever, who has been with the district 22 years, and Executive Director of Pupil Services Melanie Garbig who has served the district 26 years.
“We’re losing a lot of institutional knowledge with Jeff and Melanie,” Scruci said. “That’s 48 years of experience walking out the door.”
