The administrative staff of the Highland School District is becoming thin in numbers. In addition to eliminating some administrative support and a secondary secretary this year, there are only two full-time principals spread through the four schools in the district. The current administrators, which includes Superintendent Chris Armstrong and Principals Angela Hazelett and Jane O’Leary, presented how the year has progressed thus far at the most recent Highland School Board meeting. Armstrong feels the year has been going well, but has concerns. He believes the administrators have been forced to be reactive instead of pro-active and they are more like managers instead of instructional leaders. Armstrong has shared the duties of running Ainsworth Elementary with O’Leary, who says she’s at Riverside Elementary most of the time. She’s grateful for the help she has gotten from instructional coaches, as she feels the Ainsworth staff needs support due to the amount of new teachers at the school.

Hazelett expressed frustration in running both the high school and middle school, saying at times it seems all she’s doing is putting out fires. She’s attempting to delegate more. Armstrong says the year has been a series of adjustments, which can take time to get used to. He says, “We have some ideas right now of how we might be able to make things work slightly differently. (We) have some suggestions that we’re formulating, and we’ll present those to the board later in the year, after we’ve had more time experiencing what has been happening with our current load.” One of the changes that they are exploring is the closure of Ainsworth Elementary, which could free Armstrong and O’Leary to focus on other responsibilities. The board won’t make a decision on that until February.