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Complete Forecast for  Jul 18 2008

By MEGAN MIDDLETON
Staff Writer

Two new leaders will join Tyler ISD this summer — a new principal for Mattie Jones Elementary School and a director of student services.

TISD trustees at a Thursday meeting approved hiring Patricia Lewis to replace longtime Jones principal Michael Berrier and voted to hire Jeff Collum as the director of student services, a new position for the district.

Both will officially start July 1, although the transitions may begin before that.

The school board voted to accept Berrier’s retirement at its last regular meeting. He has served as principal of Jones for 23 years. Ms. Lewis, who currently serves as assistant principal at Bell Elementary Global Communications Academy, has 13 years of education experience, according to TISD.

She has also worked as a teacher at Griffin Elementary as well as in the Tatum and Longview ISDs.

She earned her bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies from the University of Texas at Tyler, and her master’s degree in educational administration from UT Tyler.

“We feel like she’s going to be the right fit for Jones Elementary,” TISD Superintendent Dr. Randy Reid told the board.

He said she has worked with similar student and staff populations in her other roles.

“I see her as a strong candidate to become a rising star in our district,” Reid said after the meeting.

Reid has said that in looking to fill the Jones position, the district followed the same procedures it did in filling other principal positions recently. That process included having the school develop a profile to apply to a pool of candidates, several rounds of interviews and sending the narrowed pool of candidates before a community committee, which provided feedback to the administration about the candidates.

Reid said three rounds of interviews were conducted for the director of student services position and Collum emerged as the lead candidate.

“The process he went through was really well-defined,” Reid said after the meeting. “It was obvious when I met him that he had to be sharp to rise through that process. I think he brings a widely varied background, but most of all the right personality and the right spirit of cooperation to that job. He’s a strong person, but one who has the personal skills that job requires.”

Collum has 10 years of education experience. He began his career in public education with Troup ISD and continued in Hallsville and Pine Tree ISDs. He has served as a teacher, an assistant principal and, most recently, a high school principal, grades 7 through 12, for Martins Mill ISD in Ben Wheeler, according to information from TISD.

He has a bachelor’s degree in health science/sports medicine from Lamar University. He received his master’s degree in educational administration from Stephen F. Austin State University.

The director of student services is a new position to TISD. That person, Reid has said, will be “the first line of communication with the community and the schools for non-instructional issues that come out of the schools — discipline issues, safety issues, student transportation issues.”

Collum will directly supervise the chief of police, facilitator of discipline services, attendance officers, attendance facilitator and other professional and paraprofessional staff as assigned, according to TISD.

He will report to the deputy superintendent of operations.

The position, among other things, will also free up the directors of secondary and elementary education to spend their time working on instruction with the schools, Reid has said.