Bay District Schools announces several administrative changes at local schools

With the opening of the new school year just around the corner, Bay District Schools is announcing some personnel changes which will be effective immediately.

After three years at the helm of Merriam Cherry Street Elementary and three years as the Principal of Jinks Middle School, Blythe Carpenter will be moving to become the Acting Principal at Bay High School. Carpenter will be the first female principal of Bay High School. Under Carpenter’s leadership, Cherry Street Elementary increased from an F to an A and Jinks Middle School moved up from a D to a B. Carpenter, who is a graduate of Bay High School, is thrilled about this opportunity and is very excited to get back to her alma mater. “It feels good to be going home,” she said.

Prior to announcing Carpenter as the Acting Principal for Bay High School, the District noted that the school’s current principal, Billy May, had made the difficult decision to transfer from that role after more than a decade of service to the Bay High community. May will be the new Principal of Jinks Middle School. While it’s a bittersweet move, and he will miss his Bay High students and colleagues, May said he’s excited to take everything he knows about high school down to the middle school level to ensure the Jinks Hornets are ready to be amazing Bay High Tornadoes. “Bay High will always be dear to me, and I’ll always be a Tornado, but I’m eager to meet our Hornets and to do all I can to ensure their middle school experience is the very best it can be,” May said.

Additionally, BDS announced Tuesday, Rutherford Principal Coy Pilson requested a transfer to an Assistant Director’s position at Haney Technical College. Citing personal and health reasons in his request, Pilson said, “I have always been interested in post-secondary education and think this would be a wonderful opportunity for me.” Pilson added, “Rutherford will always have a special place in my heart.” Existing Rutherford Assistant Principal Todd Mitchell is being named as the Acting Principal at Rutherford High School. “I am very excited about this opportunity and look forward to continuing to work with our Ram family,” Mitchell said. “I believe in our Rams and I know we can achieve great things.”

BDS Superintendent Bill Husfelt said changes are challenging for students, staff and families but they cannot be avoided. “In all of these situations, I firmly believe we’re doing what’s best for our students and our hard-working staff members,” he said. “Change is hard but I believe that all of these leaders will rise to the challenges in their new positions and our district will become even stronger as a result of these adjustments.”