Meridian High School has a new leader.   

    The Board of Trustees of the Meridian Public School District voted Monday night to hire Victor Hubbard as the new principal of the high school.

    The board voted unanimously to hire Hubbard, who is currently the principal of the ninth grade at MHS, for the MHS principal position for the fiscal year 2010-2011. Hubbard will replace Vicky Hood, who recently resigned, according to the school board. No other details were given on Hood’s resignation, which the board accepted at its last board meeting.

    “I am excited and I look forward to working with the faculty and staff and student body of MHS as well as the parents and the community,” Hubbard said. “I look forward to working and making MHS become one of the best schools in the state of Mississippi.”

    Hubbard’s tenure will begin in July the beginning of the district’s next fiscal year, and he said that among the biggest challenges he faces will be making the transition from ninth grade principal to principal of the entire school.

    Board President Don Evans said the decision to hire Hubbard came after observation of his job performance as ninth grade principal, describing his track record as “flawless.”

    “A good sign of a leader is when they’re walking somewhere, people are following,” Evans said. “Well with Mr. Hubbard, they follow. It’s not him going out on a trek on his own; people are following and believing in what he’s doing.”

    The announcement of Hubbard’s hire came at the tail end of a more than three hour special meeting, during which two closed sessions were held to discuss “personnel” and budget issues.