Carrier Mills-Stonefort hires Bryce K. Jerrell as new principal
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Bryce K. Jerrell, formerly the principal at East Side Intermediate School in Harrisburg, has been hired as the new Carrier Mills-Stonefort Elementary School and Junior High Principal. Unit No. 2 Superintendent Richard Morgan said Jerrell was hired at last month's meeting of the Board of Education.
"I'm really excited to have his energy and new ideas," said Morgan.
The former principal at Carrier Mills-Stonefort Elementary School was Charles Parks, who Morgan said had worked at the school about 17 years.
"Mr. Parks did an excellent job," said Morgan. "We were lucky to find someone with the credentials to fill his shoes."
Morgan said that Parks will be assisting the district with the transition and that he left the school in good shape so Jerrell will be able to begin his new job more easily.
Jerrell said he and his family are excited about his new career move.
"I'm very, very happy to be in Carrier Mills," said Jerrell. "And I'm grateful for the opportunity."
Jerrell said he doesn't have any plans for big changes at the grade school, but he wants to listen to his faculty and staff to help improve the school.
In Carrier Mills Jerrell will be working with pupils from kindergarten through eighth grade, which will be a change for Jerrell. However, he said he has experience with students of all ages and is not nervous about the move.
"It's a really good school district financially," said Jerrell. "They're not releasing people and cutting programs."
Of course, Jerrell's move to the Unit No. 2 School District means Harrisburg's school board must find a way to replace him quickly before the start of the new school year. Unit No. 3 Superintendent Dennis Smith said he has yet to receive Jerrell's resignation and the board cannot do anything about the position until it's truly vacant.
"I anticipate getting his resignation tomorrow," said Smith.
The Unit No. 3 School Board has its regular monthly meeting Tuesday evening at Harrisburg Middle School. Smith said the board has already put together a plan in the event of Jerrell's resignation and if they receive his letter of resignation, they will enact the plan at Tuesday night's meeting.
"The intention is to cover it internally," said Smith. "We have no plans to hire anyone from the outside."
The Harrisburg School Board meets at 6 p.m. tonight.
During Monday night's meeting of the Unit No. 2 School Board:
-- The board approved allowing a church youth rally to utilize the grade school facilities in September.
-- Due to a budget hearing, the board voted to move the August meeting up one week.
-- The board voted to approve a bread bid from Lewis Bakery and a milk bid from Prairie Farms.
-- An agreement with Southern Illinois University-Carbondale was approved by the board to allow student teachers to observe at district schools.
-- The board voted unanimously in favor of renewing their contract with Bill Ghent as district insurance consultant.
-- The board approved updates to the student handbook, including a new provision requiring doctor's notes for absent students who have already missed a certain number of school days.
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Stewart receives email at cstewart@dailyregister.com.</li>
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