Some familiar faces in area schools will be in new places next September.
Four out of the five school facilities within Flin Flon and Creighton will have new principals starting next school year. Only one principal currently with the Flin Flon School Division – Hapnot Collegiate’s Brent Bedford – will stay in their post.
Despite the changes, no new administrative staff has been hired from outside the region. Instead, staff already working with the Flin Flon and Creighton school divisions will fill the positions.
“While people may have different titles, they’re still within the same system,” said Constance McLeese, superintendent of the Flin Flon School Division.
“What we’re trying to do is grow leadership from within our own organization. It’s not an uncommon move to promote a VP to a principal. Ideally, if there’s a VP, it helps continuity when you have to fill a principal post.”
Current Hapnot vice-principal Patty Korchinski will hop across the provincial border to serve as the next principal of Creighton Community School. Current Hapnot teacher Jordy Dumenko, the only new hire with no previous administrative experience, will occupy Korchinski’s spot as Hapnot vice-principal.
“He’s our newest recruit. We’re delighted he’s accepted that position. You hope to develop your leadership cadre from within the organization,” said McLeese.
At Many Faces Educational Centre, Mark Lucas has been named as the school’s principal, signaling a change in strategy for the school. In the past, Many Faces has shared administration with Hapnot.
“He’ll be taking over Many Faces,” said McLeese of Lucas. “We’ve kind of split a post.”
Lucas currently serves as the interim principal of Ruth Betts Community School. Starting next year, Amber Zerbin will serve as principal at Ruth Betts. Zerbin was named to the post last year and spent the last year on maternity leave.
Current Ruth Betts vice-principal Mike McLellan will stay in his current position.
École McIsaac School will also have a new principal, with vice-principal Miranda Bowman being promoted to the post. Bowman’s former position as vice-principal is still vacant, with McLeese saying an announcement on the position will likely come in May.
Sylvie Dufour will continue to serve as a vice-principal in charge of French Immersion education, working out of both McIsaac and Ruth Betts.
Current McIsaac principal Steve Lytwyn will leave the school to become the school division’s director of student learning, strategic planning and technology.
The job is new for the division. McLeese said a need for Lytwyn’s new position was created after increased data and technology demands from the provincial education ministry.
“They’re very keen on accountability – not that they weren’t before, but there’s a lot of data coming down,” she said.
“It becomes very complex, very quickly.”
McLeese said the new administrators could be in their new roles for years to come.
“One would anticipate that they could be in those posts for quite some time. They’re all young,” she said.
