Principal Jim Franz, left, talks with a group of students including junior Luke Miller, 16, center, at eighth grader Enyi Oti, 14, on Friday in the library at Bishop T.K. Gorman Catholic School in Tyler. After almost two decades leading the school Franz will be leaving at the end of the current school year. Andrew D. Brosig/Tyler Morning Telegraph via AP

CORY MCCOY, comccoy@tylerpaper.com

Principal Jim Franz is set to step down after 19 years at the helm of Bishop T.K. Gorman Catholic School.

Much has changed in the world and in the field of education since he took charge of the school in 1998. After nearly a year of soul searching, Franz said he’s decided to pass the torch.

“It’s a little bit of a painful decision,” he said. “I recognize the need for a different kind of leader.”

Franz said education has changed over the course of his 35-year career, from security measures to vast changes in technology.

“Early on the technology was used to ‘gee whiz’ kids. A strong education today is about learning a skillset to function in a 21st Century workforce,” he said. “We have no idea what the world will look like for a ninth-grader when they’re mid-career.”

Father Dan Dower, the vicar of education for the diocese, said Franz spoke with him and Bishop Joseph Strickland early on when he first began to feel it was time to move on.

“It was Mr. Franz’s decision, something he has been praying about for many months,” Dower said.

Dower said Franz felt that after 19 years he had shared everything he knows and successfully built up the school.

“He has brought the school to where it needed to be from a time where we were in disruption with a new head of school every two years,” Dower said.

Dower said that Franz helped build a stable foundation for the school when it was in turmoil, and that while they don’t want him to move on, Dower respects the humility it has taken for Franz to say someone else is needed.

“I said (in a meeting last week), ‘I want you to look at Jim. This is what true leadership is. He recognizes when it’s time to step aside and let the next guy take over,’” Dower said. “I’m very proud of him.”

Franz said he is not sure what comes next – only that it is time for Gorman to move forward.

“A principal serves the community, family and students, and in many ways, can have impacts on lives that are extraordinary,” Franz said. “Those points of impact can have huge meaning.”

Dower has been tasked with putting together a search committee for a successor. He has already asked Franz for help drawing up a job description.

“I think the first thing (we have to do) would be to carry forward the seeds that Jim has planted in terms of Catholic identity at Gorman schools,” Dower said. “The new head of school is going to have to be a person of strong moral and theological character who understands what it means to be a strong Catholic school and not just one that has a Catholic name.”

“Bringing the Lord Jesus Christ to students and families we serve, that’s my job,” Franz said. “If I failed at that, I’ve failed as an educator.”

Franz believes those personal victories don’t happen while sitting in an office. In his 19 years at Gorman, Franz has always taught a class. He said those classes are his favorite time of the day.

Franz will finish out the academic year before stepping down. Dower said the board would find a way to honor his service between now and then.

“This is a new beginning for us. We’ll be saying goodbye to a great leader, a great educator and we will be welcoming someone who will help us take the next steps for our school,” Dower said. “We’re very excited about that, and we want people to be excited with us.”

Twitter: @TMT_Cory