By Alicia Couch Payne
Following the March 25th Buford Board of Education meeting, the board members adjourned into an executive session where the administration teams for each school for the 2019-2020 school year were finalized.
With Assistant Superintendent Dr. Rita Cantrell retiring, current Buford Middle School Principal Melanie Reed was selected to take her place. That left a vacancy at the middle school. There is also a new Senior Academy school that needed a principal. At the high school, current principal Ed Shaddix will not be returning next year for an undisclosed reason and his position needed to be filled. Superintendent Downs released the complete list of administrators for next year this morning.
- BES Principal – Mark Graves
- BES Assistant Principal – Christie Brown
- BA Principal – Tara Prince
- BA Assistant Principal – Sara Lingerfelt
- BA Assistant Principal – Andrea Kiep
- Buford Senior Academy Principal – Kaleen Pulley
- Buford Senior Assistant Principal – Chad Cole
- BMS Principal – Teresa Hagelthorn
- BMS Assistant Principal – Laura Beth Short
- BMS Assistant Principal – Brandon Manders
- BHS Principal – Lindsey Allen
- BHS Assistant Principal – Marty Bozoian
- BHS Assistant Principal – Keith Johnson
- BHS Assistant Principal – Kari McIntyre
- BHS Assistant Principal – TBD
Mark Graves will be coming to Buford Elementary School from the Forsyth County School District where he currently serves as an assistant principal at Settles Bridge Elementary School. He has twelve years of experience as an administrator. He attended the University of Tennessee, graduated from Furman University, and obtained his Master’s Degree from Florida State University. Mr. Graves then obtained his leadership degree from Kennesaw State University in 2006.
Teresa Hagelthorn will become the new Buford Middle School Principal next year. She is currently an assistant principal at Buford Academy. She obtained her undergraduate degree from the University of Georgia, her Master’s Degree from Piedmont College, and Specialist’s Degree from the University of Southern Mississippi. She has served in administration positions at Central Gwinnett HS, Archer HS, Dacula HS, and Buford HS.
Lindsey Allen was announced as the new Buford High School Principal. He currently serves as Executive Officer of Secondary Education for the Bibb County School District. He has been in education for twenty-one years and has served in numerous roles including principal, assistant principal, teacher, coach, and hearing officer for Bibb County, Gwinnett County, and Barrow County School Districts. He grew up in Bibb County and earned his Bachelor’s Degree from Georgia College. He earned his Master’s Degree in Education from Brenau University and in 2007 earned his Educational Leadership Certification from the University of Georgia.
Two existing Buford faculty will be promoted to an assistant principal role. Andrea Kiep, a current teacher at Buford Elementary School will be promoted to assistant principal at Buford Academy.
Brandon Manders is a PE/Health teacher and Athletic Director at Buford Middle School but will see a promotion to assistant principal at BMS for next year. Due to Buford’s growing student population, the high school will be receiving funding for a fourth assistant principal to join the staff next year. This fourth assistant principal has yet to be determined.
Buford Board of Education Chairman Phillip Beard said “inevitably (the new appointments) were going to happen and it’s all coming together. We knew we would have to move people around and hire people to fill roles once the new high school opens and the Senior Academy is created.” Mr. Beard said that the Board was able to move people around to fill a majority of the positions and that they were able to move people to utilize each person’s strengths to best serve Buford students. The positions that they sought outside applicants for had a high number of candidates from which to choose from. “Buford attracts the best candidates and we are fortunate that we have such quality to pick from. People want to be a part of Buford Schools.”
The grade levels and buildings for next year are as follows: Current BES building will remain BES housing the daycare for children of school staff and kindergarten. The current Buford Academy will be for 1st – 3rd grades. Grades 4 – 5 will form a new school called Buford Senior Academy and it will be located in the current BMS building. Buford Middle School will move to the current BHS building and will serve 6th – 8th grades. Grades 9 – 12 will move to the new Buford High School campus.
