Michael Browning is the new principal at London High School.
(Posted July 3, 2018)
By Kristy Zurbrick, Madison Editor
Due to turnover, London City Schools is filling four principal vacancies going into next school year–two at the high school and two at the elementary school.
This past month, Chad Eisler resigned as high school principal to take a job as superintendent at Madison-Plains Local Schools. On June 26, the school board named Michael Browning as Eisler’s replacement, awarding him a three-year contract.
Browning is new to the position but not new to the district, as he has served as assistant principal at the high school for the last 2.5 years. His 14-year career in education has included time as a teacher and as an administrator.
“His experience and vision, and his ability to articulate that vision, matched really well…with what we want to do district-wide. That includes providing more flexible (learning) options for students,” said Superintendent Dr. Lou Kramer.
“I see where the district wants to go and the potential the district has, and I want to remain a part of that,” Browning said.
Browning’s shift to the head principal position left a vacancy in the assistant principal position at the high school. Kramer said the district will fill the slot soon. Interviews were conducted last week.
As for changes at the elementary school, Stefanie Deisher, assistant principal for the past three years, submitted her resignation, effective July 31. District leaders were in the process of interviewing candidates for the opening when, on June 25, Tabatha Wilburn, principal at the elementary for the past year, submitted her resignation, also effective July 31. Both have accepted jobs outside Madison County.
The district had already identified several strong candidates for the assistant principal position, Kramer said, but is putting that hiring process on hold until a new head principal is hired and can have input on who is named assistant principal.
Though he admits it’s an aggressive timeline, Kramer said he hopes to have candidates lined up for the head principal job by the end of this week.
About the loss of both administrators at the elementary, Kramer said, “It’s certainly a challenge and an unexpected challenge at that… but it also presents an opportunity for us to bring in a team of new administrators that can quickly work together and work with the staff.”
Kramer said he is pleased with the number of applications the district has received for the various openings.
“We feel fortunate to have a large candidate pool for all of the positions,” he said.
