Search moves forward for new principal

By Joshua Bassett

With 57 applicants for the job, the Granville Central School District will begin interviewing this week for the position of elementary school principal.

School Superintendent Mark Bessen outlined at a board meeting last week the hiring process the district will follow in considering the narrowed field of 16 candidates.

A group consisting of Bessen, high school Principal Camille Harrelson and three others screened the candidates and narrowed the field.
Bessen said the plan is to have those 16 candidates come back for interviews. Eight candidates will be interviewed today and eight will be interviewed tomorrow. At least one member of the school board will sit in on those interviews.

Of the 16, four will be invited back for follow-up interviews early next month.

Each candidate will meet with different interview teams. Bessen said there will be separate teams of students, teachers, support staff, administrators and a fifth consisting of community members. The applicants will also meet with the school board.

Following the interviews, a representative from each interviewing team will meet with the board and discuss the pro and cons of each applicant.

The board will then meet, consider the recommendations of each team and offer the position to the candidate of its choosing.

Bessen said the hope is to have a new principal in place by July 1.

Former principal Jane O’Shea resigned last month, citing philosophical differences with the board. She was initially expected to remain on staff until the end of the school year, but left to accept an interim position at Whitehall Elementary School.

Following her departure, the district hire former Granville High School principal Chris Ellis as the interim principal, effective April 6. He is expected to fill the position until June 30 or until a replacement is hired. He is being paid $400 a day.