Two Fort Scott campuses get new principals

Winfield Scott Elementary School will soon welcome Zach Lemert as its principal.

The USD 234 school board approved hiring of Lemert, currently a teacher at Westside Elementary School in Pittsburg, to replace Billie Jo Drake during their regularly scheduled board meeting Monday night. Drake, currently Winfield Scott principal, was one of four administrators who put in requests for early retirement in January and February.

Lemert, a Pittsburg native, earned both his bachelor's degree in elementary education and his master's in leadership studies from Pittsburg State University. Lemert has been the Title I reading teacher at Westside for two years. Prior to that, he was a fifth-grade teacher at Lakeside Elementary, also in USD 250.

Lemert began his teaching career in Fort Scott as an eighth-grade teacher at Fort Scott Middle School nine years ago. When he first saw the open position, he said he thought it would be a great opportunity to work with younger kids.

"When I saw it was an attendance center, I thought it would be a great opportunity and I'm really looking forward to it," Lemert said. "I'm extremely excited to come back to Fort Scott and be a part of the community."

Lermert said he will continue living in Frontenac with his wife and two small children, commuting every day.

His wife, Kacy, is a third-grade teacher at Frank Layden Elementary in Frontenac and the couple recently purchased a new home there.

Lemert will be at Winfield Scott today to tour the school and meet his future colleagues.

"I want to talk to all the grade levels and figure out the strengths of the staff and building -- figure out their main goals," he said.

Lemert wasn't the only one who got a new position during Monday's board meeting.

Fort Scott Middle School Assistant Principal D.J. Brown was named to replace Principal Barb Albright. Alrbright, who had served as principal since 1995, announced her retirement in February.

Brown, a Fort Scott native, said Albright has been a mentor to him throughout his education career. He started his out at the middle school and said his new position is like a dream come true.

"This is something that has been my dream," Brown said. "I've worked in this building; I'm comfortable ... You know what the school is like and what it needs. It makes the transition easier."

Brown received his bachelor's degree in elementary education and his master's in leadership studies from PSU as well.

He said he is currently doing some work on his district-level certification at Emporia State University.

As for next year, Brown said he wants to continue down the path the school is already on.

"Our goal is always for student achievement," he said. "We just want to build upon our success and try to keep improving."

The assistant principal's position is currently open and advertised on the USD 234 website. School board President Janet Braun said the district has been receiving both local and out-of-town applications. The website doesn't state when the position will close.

Superintendent Rick Werling announced his early retirement in February and the district school board waited until his position was filled to begin the hiring process of filling other vacant administrator positions. The board recently named Diane Gross as Werling's replacement and she sat in on the interviews for both principal positions, Werling said.

Both men were screened and interviewed by multiple teachers and administrators at the respective schools before being selected. Two screening committees, made up of about eight members each, went through the 20-plus applications received for each position. Once narrowed down, finalists were interviewed by another set of teachers and administrators making up the interviewing committee.

Anonymous recommendations were passed to Werling, who made his final recommendations to the board.

When asked how he made his decision, Werling said, "they were the best" for the position.

Based on the committee votes, Werling said "we picked the best candidates."

While looking forward to her pending retirement and thinking about the future of the middle school, Albright said Brown will "do just fine" in his new position.

"I've worked with D.J. for 12 years," she said. "He understands students at the middle (school) level and I have all the confidence in the world in him."

Also an assistant principal when she became head of the school, Albright said it makes the transition easier.

"I was glad I had the assistant principalship under my belt," she said. "You're dealing with the same things, but you get to branch out more into the curriculum and overseeing the entire school ... The school will be in fine hands; trust me."