Interim principal begins work at Marfa ISD

By ALBERTO TOMAS HALPERN

MARFA – In the wake of losing Marfa Jr./Sr. High School principal Graydon Hicks two weeks ago, the school district has hired an interim principal.

Ken Jernigan, who prior to working in Marfa taught and coached in Shamrock, Texas, a Panhandle town similar in population to Marfa, began work as the interim principal this week.

Jernigan recently finished his Master’ss degree program at Sul Ross State University in school administration. This is his first job as an administrator.

“My desire is to be a principal,” Jernigan said this week. He noted that he is not unfamiliar with Marfa ISD as he interned under Hicks last spring as part of his degree program.

Ken Jernigan at Marfa High School this week. (photo by ALBERTO TOMAS HALPERN)

“The nice thing is I worked with Mr. Hicks, got to know his style and how he did things. At this stage of the game it’s best to not disrupt things,” Jernigan said.

Asked about the challenges of starting work mid-school year, Jernigan said, “You’re always behind, especially coming in the middle of the year when everything is moving.”

Jernigan said he took the position when asked because he really enjoyed his internship at Marfa ISD and enjoyed the students, faculty and the community. Jernigan listed his top priorities as getting students ready for benchmark testing and graduation.

“The number one priority is to make sure benchmark testing gets ready for TAKS and STAAR, it’s critical at this time of year.” Jernigan said all the school’s focus is on getting students ready to do the best on those tests.

“Graduation is also an issue. It’s shortly coming up. We need to make students eligible” for graduation.

Marfa ISD Superintendent Teloa Swinnea said this week that having an interim principal was not originally in the school district’s plans but that a principal selection committee decided to select someone to fill the role immediately while they work on hiring a permanent candidate for the job. The deadline for applying for principal is March 15, after which a principal selection committee composed of parents, faculty and students will go through applications and pick a finalist.

As for Jernigan, “I’m going to be very visible at extracurricular events. I’m energetic, enthusiastic with what the kids are involved with,” Jernigan said. “I will try to get to know the community and let them get to know me.”