Officials: Principal's shoes hard to fill

Only a month into the school year, the faculty of Chapel Hill High School is facing major changes in the school's composition.

Last week, Mary Ann Hardebeck, the school's principal of five years, announced her resignation, effective in November.

"It was a very difficult decision to make," Hardebeck said Friday. "I'm very attached to the people here."

Hardebeck is taking a position in Virginia as the director of high school education in Loudon County.

"We can have someone to come and replace the vision, but we can never replace her," said English teacher Joanne McClelland.

Hardebeck noted that changes always bring concerns in the short term, but in the end, everything will be resolved.

"In the long term, it's always an opportunity for growth."

Hardebeck led a team of four assistant principals at Chapel Hill High - Mervin Jenkins, Pat Harris, Karla Eanes and Jeff Thomas.

Thomas said he thought that, because of this team, the process of acclimating a new principal would be seamless.

He said that despite Hardebeck's departure, the rest of the administrators likely would remain on staff.

And the search for their new leader already has begun.

"We will probably think through options for appointing an interim so that someone could come on board as soon as possible and then initiate a comprehensive search for a permanent replacement," Superintendent Neil Pedersen said.

Pedersen could not say whether the replacement likely would be an administrator from within the school or the district or someone brought in from another school system, as the district has had examples of both in the past.

The search for Hardebeck's successor will involve a multistep application process.

A selection committee will review the applicants and make a recommendation to the superintendent, who will in turn recommend someone to the school board for approval, Pedersen said.

But McClelland said the prospect of bringing in a replacement is making some faculty members nervous, citing Hardebeck's ability to meet goals and listen to her staff.

"When you start looking at all of her great characteristics as a leader, then you start to wonder: Am I going to get a person that's going to continue with her vision?" she said.

She said both the teachers and the administrators could help that person adjust by sharing with them Hardebeck's ideas.

And despite her sadness about leaving, Hardebeck noted that change always brings new ideas.

"Change can be very positive."

 

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