Principals shuffled around Preston County schools

KINGWOOD — Three Preston County schools will have a different principal at the helm this fall.

All currently work in the system, but the elimination of one principal’s position and the resignation of another led to shuffling around.

In January, Preston School Superintendent Steve Wotring recommended putting Fellowsville Elementary and Rowlesburg School under a single principal because of dwindling enrollment at both.

“The schools together are about 150 students,” he told the board of education at the time.

Current Rowlesburg Principal Pete Pell applied for and got the two-school position. That left current Fellowsville Principal Greg Cummings without a job.

“Mr. Cummings ‘bumped’ Jonas Knotts at Bruceton, because he’s the least senior” principal in the county, Wotring explained.

So Cummings will be the principal at Bruceton School this fall. That forced first-year principal Knotts out at Bruceton.

But Aurora Principal Debbie Hibbs resigned her spot for
2020-21, so Knotts applied for that job. The board approved Cummings’ and Knotts’ moves at its most recent meeting.

“So that’s how the principal situation all worked out,” Wotring said.

Another administrative switch will be in the Kingwood Elementary dean of students position. The board hired Samantha Peaslee to fill the position.

“Duane Frund, who was the dean of students at Kingwood Elementary, got a job in Pennsylvania where he lives in the Albert Gallatin [school district] as a principal,” Wotring said. “He resigned and left us a couple weeks ago.”

Peaslee was getting bumped out of her position at Kingwood Elementary, prior to applying for the dean job.

The state has not changed deadlines for schools to put personnel in place for the next school year. Preston only had one request for a personnel hearing, which was held prior to the coronavirus shutdown of schools.

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