Principal shuffle: Four Wichita high schools will have new leaders this fall

Four Wichita high schools will have new principals next year, including one where some teachers said administrators weren't doing enough to control student behavior.

Heights High School principal Bruce Deterding will move to Southeast High School this fall, according to a list of leadership changes posted on the district's website Thursday.

Current Southeast principal Lori Doyle will move to North High School, and North High principal Sherman Padgett will move to Heights, officials said.

The shuffle comes a few months after some employees at Southeast High circulated a petition that mentioned "grave concerns" about escalating violence and unruly behavior at the school and urged leaders to take "decisive and strong actions" to combat it.

Southeast High, at 127th Street East and Pawnee, has an enrollment of about 1,740 students.

Ken Thiessen, principal at East High School, announced this week that he will retire after 26 years as an administrator at that school. Sara Richardson, an assistant principal at East, will be principal there this fall.

The district announced several other leadership changes for the 2018-19 school year, including new principals at more than a dozen schools:

• Terrell Davis, executive director of public affairs and special projects, will be assistant superintendent of support services, replacing Neil Guthrie, who is retiring.
  
  
• William Polite, program manager for strategic partnerships, will be director of equity and accountability, replacing Kim Burkhalter, who retired.
  
  
• Shawn Springer, principal at Christa McAuliffe Academy, will be principal at Colvin Elementary.
  
  
• Ben Myrick, principal at Colvin, will be principal at Christa McAuliffe.
  
  
• Philip Ingram, principal at Benton Elementary, will be principal at Griffith Elementary, replacing Linda Brown, who is retiring.
  
  
• Julie Scott, principal at Kensler Elementary, will be principal at Benton.
  
  
• Chris Waterbury, principal at Earhart Elementary, will be principal at Kensler.
  
  
• Matt Malget, assistant principal at Robinson Middle School, will be principal at Earhart.
  
  
• Kristina Bowyer, principal at Ortiz Elementary, will be principal at Spaght Elementary, replacing Laquita Lugrand, who is taking another position in the district.
  
  
• Jeanna Hernandez, principal at Lawrence Elementary, will be principal at Ortiz.
  
  
• Amy Snodgrass, assistant principal at Cloud Elementary, will be principal at Lawrence.
  
  
• Mendie Vicin, principal at Gammon Elementary, will be principal at Cloud.
  
  
• Jeanie Ybarra-Watkins, principal at Woodland Elementary, will be principal at Gammon.
  
  
• Patricia Brown, principal at Cloud, will be principal at Woodland.
  
  
• Randall Harding, interim principal at Pleasant Valley Elementary, will be principal at the school, replacing Kari Weichman, who left the district.
  
  
• Carol Dunne, assistant principal at Enterprise Elementary, will be principal at Seltzer Elementary, replacing Angie Brown, who is taking another position in the district.
  
  
• Claudio Flores, assistant principal at Northwest High, will be principal of Bryant Opportunity Academy, a new school that will serve elementary children with behavior problems.
  
  
• Darren Alford, assistant principal at Truesdell Middle School, will be principal at Greiffenstein Alternative School.
  
  

This story was originally published April 12, 2018 at 7:24 PM with the headline "Principal shuffle: Four Wichita high schools will have new leaders this fall."