Two Richmond Hill schools will have some new faces in the halls after a decision from the Bryan County Board of Education during a called meeting Monday at the Richmond Hill Prekindergarten Center.
The board unanimously approved to hire two new assistant principals at both Richmond Hill High School and Richmond Hill Middle School, according to Bryan County Schools Superintendent Dr. Paul Brooksher.
Nancy Highsmith, currently a science teacher at RHHS, and Bivins Miller, currently a special education teacher at Statesboro High School, will soon assume the role of assistant principals at Richmond Hill High School.
Elizabeth Bennett, currently an English teacher and head girls basketball coach at RHHS, and Ken Deal, currently an eighth-grade science teacher at Bryan County Middle School, will soon assume the role of assistant principals at Richmond Hill Middle School.
Brooksher said the four candidates were selected out of a pool of about 30 applicants for the four positions.
“We are very excited about the group that was appointed, and I see some great, great things coming out of this group,” he said.
Board chairman Eddie Warren echoed those comments on Tuesday.
“We got a lot of good applicants and had a very thorough interview process, which is a new interview process that Dr. Brooksher has put in place,” Warren said. “It is very thorough, very effective, and we’re excited about how well that worked and the fact we got some good candidates to work with in the future.”
Bennett will finish out the basketball season as head coach at RHHS even if she assumes her new role before the season is over, Brooksher said.
Current RHMS Assistant Principal Allen Cox was appointed in November by the board to be the full-time Director of Transportation for the school system, Brooksher said. Cox won’t assume that role until the new assistant principals arrive at RHMS, he added.
Dr. Jane Lyons, a former assistant principal at RHHS, retired at the end of November, Brooksher added, creating a need for another assistant principal at that school.
He said while it is critical the assistant principal roles be filled quickly, the candidates won’t take on their new roles until “a suitable replacement can be found to backfill their teaching positions.”
“My goal is to have (the positions) filled by end of this semester, but with two of the teachers teaching in critical field areas, we will not rush those hires,” he said.
Highsmith and Miller will be joining current assistant principals Mickey Bayens and Wade Wright at RHHS, and Bennett and Miller will be joining current assistant principal Linda Roberts at RHMS.

Read more in the Dec. 12 edition of the News.