Columbia Elementary is going through a complicated process as the school is interviewing for a new principal. Currently the school has two acting principals, Terry Borden who comes in on Mondays, and Jeffrey Coulter.
Coulter is the principal at Whatcom Middle School. In 2009 Whatcom was destroyed in a fire. Coulter has been working on re-building it, while at the same time assuming the principal role at Columbia Elementary. “Everything that has to happen in a middle school in spring, we’re doing,” he said. He’s pleased with the changes that have been made to the middle school and is grateful to Dawson Construction. “In this construction climate, they’re doing the impossible,” he said.
Whatcom Middle School is expected to re-open on Sept 6.
Five elementary schools in the Bellingham School District are hiring new principals said Terry Borden. As well as Columbia; Silver Beach, Geneva, Cordata and Larrabee are all looking for new principals.
This is the fifth week Borden has been what he calls the “Monday Principal” at Columbia Elementary. He says that he will be at Columbia for about another month and then the new principals will be chosen for the next school year.
“They’ve had some retirements, they’ve had some change in placements with different people…,” said Borden. Positions have opened up and people have switched around creating openings for more people to work in the schools.
The retired administrator assumes the basic principal roles on Mondays. “The thought is that they wanted somebody here on the one day that Jeff who is the acting principal right now can’t be here,” said Borden. The rest of the week he is the principal at Larrabee. He considers his role to be a very minor one but still deals with discipline, placement issues and planning assemblies among other duties. Lately his job includes a lot of assembly planning as everyone wants to be kept updated on the interviewing process for the new principals.
He’s very busy and often deals with both schools all the time. There are times when he gets called to Larrabee on Mondays when he is dealing with principal duties at Columbia Elementary. Borden said he still gets paid a normal principal salary.
“Primarily [I] answer to whatever Jeff wants and help out,” said Borden. Borden said that he will be returning to retirement after the new principals take their roles at the respective schools.
The main job is to assume the leadership role at Columbia on Mondays when Coulter can’t be there, he said. “It has been just the fact that we have someone available if needed,” said Michele Foster, who works in the office.
Potential principals are being interviewed right now with the help of parents and employees of the schools. “Then they’ll select people for each one of these schools and the superintendent will meet with the candidate and then make the determination which schools these principals go to,” said Borden.
Throughout the next few weeks there will be meetings that include parents who want to voice their opinions about the qualities they want the new principal to have. Parents may also e-mail the office to make their opinion known. The new principal will be picked by July and be able to start by the beginning of the next school year.
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