As the Hall County school system informs some employees they will not have jobs in August, system leaders also are interviewing the final candidates to fill three assistant principal and two principal positions.

The Hall County school board named Lois Myers, a school improvement specialist for the Pioneer Regional Educational Service Agency in Cleveland, to be the new principal of Lyman Hall Elementary School. Hall County assistant superintendent
Richard Hill said current Lyman Hall Principal Pat Tilson is retiring.

Hill said the assistant principal vacancies are at North Hall Middle School, White Sulphur Elementary School and the World Language Academy.

North Hall Middle Assistant Principal Barbara Jenkins and White Sulphur Elementary Assistant Principal Noreen Sherwood are retiring. World Language Academy Principal David Moody is returning to his central office position overseeing elementary schools and current Assistant Principal Sue Vaughn will fill the principal position at the academy.

There are principal vacancies at Sugar Hill and Tadmore elementaries. Sugar Hill Principal Raymond Akridge is returning to retirement. Tadmore Principal Joe Gonsalves also is retiring.

Hill said he expects Superintendent Will Schofield to recommend individuals for the vacancies within the next week.

Schofield said Myers is a great fit for Lyman Hall Elementary because she’s already been working with Hall County schools for several years in her capacity as a school improvement specialist with the state Department of Education and most recently with the Cleveland educational agency serving Hall County and surrounding districts.

Myers, who also served as the women’s head basketball coach at the University of Alabama for four years in the late 1980s, said she is looking forward to returning to work on the school level. She said Schofield was instrumental in placing her as Lyman Hall’s new principal.

"He’s a recruiter, for sure. And quite honestly, I wouldn’t want to work with anybody else. I’m a big fan of him and Hall County schools," she said. "... As the world changes, you want to work with a school system that’s innovative and willing to think out of the box."

Myers’ principalship is effective July 1.