Myrick leaving Granville schools for superintendent's job in Weldon
Jun. 2—OXFORD — The Granville County Public Schools system is losing one of its assistant superintendents, Michael Myrick, who's moving on to lead the schools in Weldon, North Carolina.
Myrick is stepping up to become superintendent of the Weldon City Schools after 14 years with the Granville system as principal, director and assistant superintendent for curriculum, instruction and support services.
Many of his colleagues agree that he is dedicated to working with children in the community.
"He's ready to be a superintendent," said David Richardson, chairman of the Granville County school board. "I think it's a great loss for Granville County schools, but a great step for him. He's done a job moving up in rank."
Myrick was chosen out of 39 applicants for the position of superintendent for Weldon City Schools. His experience, leadership, and dedication to students, staff and community stuck out to the Weldon City School board.
Granville Superintendent Alisa McLean said she's not surprised Myrick was chosen for the job to lead another school district. She added that she knows he will "do amazing things" for the Weldon schools.
Myrick, via a written statement on Wednesday said that while he is "extremely excited to get started in my new position as Weldon City Schools superintendent," he is "just as sad to leave a place that has been an essential part of my family's life for the last 14 years."
"Granville County Public Schools and the Granville County community have been very good to me as I have had the pleasure of working and serving on boards with some of the most amazing people," Myrick said. "As I transition to the Weldon community, I wish Granville County Public Schools and the Granville County community continued success."
The Weldon district is one of three traditional public school districts in Halifax County, the others being the Roanoke Rapids City Schools and the Halifax County Schools. The division has long drawn the ire of civil-rights groups, as the Roanoke Rapids district's student body is majority white and the other two are majority black.
N.C. Department of Public Instruction figures indicate that Myrick will be dealing with at least one situation that should be familiar to him from his Granville County experience: The Weldon district has lost a significant number of students to charter schools.
As of 2019-20 about 27% of the Weldon district's prospective students were attending charter schools instead. The Halifax County Schools had lost about 31% of their prospective students to charters, while the Roanoke Rapids city district lost but 6%.
That same DPI reckoning showed that the Granville County Public Schools district had lost about 18.5% of its potential enrollment to charter schools. The loss prompted a round of school mergers in the Oxford area in 2019, and the school board is now considering another round of mergers in the Butner/Stem/Creedmoor area.
Myrick is an active member of the Granville County community, serving on the Oxford Advisory Council for the Boys & Girls Clubs of North Central N.C. and the advisory board for Vance-Granville Community College's School of Arts & Sciences.
He also serves on the board of the N.C. Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development and the N.C. Science, Mathematics, and Technology Education Center.
Myrick's last day with the Granville schools is June 30. He will begin his term as Weldon's superintendent the next day.
McLean is in charge of finding a replacement and bringing a plan for the process to the board.
