The Lauderdale County School District Board of Trustees named two new principals and three new assistant principals at a meeting Thursday night. 

Brian Jordan will be the new principal at Clarkdale High School, succeeding Ken Hardy, who is heading to the central office. Jordan has spent 14 years in education as a teacher, coach, and maintenance and facilities director.

“I’m looking forward to meeting the kids, the parents and the community and staff members,” he said, “and just finding areas where we can make some improvements and be competitive in every aspect of education.”

At Northeast High School, Sammy Sullivan will replace Tim Moore, who was named the district’s athletic and transportation director.

Sullivan has worked as a high school principal, an assistant principal, a teacher and an athletic director, he said. He also served 22 years in the military.

“One of the primary goals I’d like to see is a family-type environment where everyone feels heard,” he said.

Glendolyn Crowell will be the new assistant principal at West Lauderdale High School.

“I love school,” she said. “I love going to school.”

Crowell has worked as a history teacher, a softball coach and an assistant principal before. Having headed Kosciusko’s softball team, she said she knows the athletic spirit there well and looks forward to it, as well as other work that will start Monday.

Leigh Rodgers will be the new assistant principal at West Lauderdale Middle School. She has 15 years of teaching experience and most recently was a fifth-grade math teacher at the school.

Before making a transition to administration as Northeast Middle School’s assistant principal, Josh Snider spent 13 years coaching baseball, most recently as head baseball coach at the high school.  

He and the administration are already finding things to work on, he said.

“We have a lot of ideas on the table that we’re gonna bring to the school,” he said. “You know, no matter what we do, our goal is to be the best.”

In other matters

In other news, the board ended a decades-long relationship with insurance agency Meyer & Rosenbaum. Beginning July 1, the district’s general liability, property and automobile insurance will be covered by The Insurance Center of Meridian.

The change is part of an effort to save money as county schools face expense adjustments and little to no additional revenue, said Director of Finance George Hedgepeth. The board asked for his help finding ways to save money, he said.

The move will save the district about $64,000, superintendent John-Mark Cain said during the meeting.

After the meeting, Hedgepeth said the number came from an independent, third-party attorney who offered to help.

Another $100,000 was saved before, when the district reexamined its workers’ compensation insurance, he said, not leaving an agency but finding new quotes from companies.

Similar cuts have been made in other areas, Hedgepeth said.