NAFCS hires Al Eckert as Floyd Central interim principal

Jul. 31—FLOYD COUNTY — New Albany-Floyd County Schools has selected Al Eckert as the interim principal at Floyd Central High School.

The NAFCS school board voted 5-0 at Monday's special meeting to hire Eckert, who recently retired as the principal at Silver Creek High School.

Board member Thad Neafus abstained from the vote, and member Elizabeth Galligan was absent from the meeting. Eckert will begin just as school starts Tuesday in NAFCS.

The hiring of the interim principal follows recent turnover in administrative staffing at the high school and the school district. Earlier this summer, Rob Willman, the former Floyd Central principal, left to be principal at Silver Creek High School.

NAFCS Superintendent Travis Madison recently announced the decision to delay the hiring of a permanent principal at the high school following an initial search. The search will reopen at the start of the year.

Madison touted Eckert's experience, including 20 years working in educational leadership.

"It's my feeling that Dr. Eckert's experience [and] student-centered philosophy are qualities that we find to be ideal for our interim principal need that currently exists at Floyd Central High School," he said.

Eckert said he is "humbled and honored" to serve as interim principal at Floyd Central.

"I think it's a wonderful opportunity for me," he said. "I'm just very grateful to have a chance to learn from the people over at New Albany-Floyd, and I look forward to building positive rapport with the students and the community and the teachers and staff."

He said he met with the school's assistant principals and some of the teachers, and he is expecting a smooth start to the school year at Floyd Central.

"I'm very excited about it," Eckert said. "It's a great school facility, great programs — it's a very good situation."

At Monday's meeting, several community members expressed concerns about the district's approach to filling the principal role at Floyd Central.

Jen London, a representative for the New Albany-Floyd County Education Association and a teacher at Floyd Central, said that there is a "glaring issue" with the way the hiring process for a new principal has occurred.

"And that issue is a complete lack of transparency," she said. "At the July 17 meeting, [the school board] had the opportunity to make their hiring priorities clear to the public, and for whatever reason, that did not happen."

London questioned the approach of bringing in an interim leader from another school district instead of a candidate from inside NAFCS, including former Floyd Central administrators "who could have walked in the doors on day one without missing a beat." '

She said Floyd Central teachers "deserve to know what the entire process looks like, including the board's vision for our school and an explanation of how you're going to get the best candidates to apply for the job."

"Please be transparent with the community as the interview process starts over again and be explicit about what you'd like to see in Floyd Central's leadership moving forward," she said.

London said she has "heard nothing but wonderful things" about Eckert, and she is "glad that he's accepted the challenge."

"So please know that our message tonight is not a criticism of him as a person — it is a criticism of this process," she said.

During public comments, Mary Brewer said she appreciates that the district is "not rushing into this process" and "making sure that you have the best candidate being hired for this position."

John Marsh, a former principal at Floyd Central, said he also has concerns about the process of hiring a new principal, noting that three administrators who are new to Floyd Central will be introduced right as the school year begins.

In July, the NAFCS school board hired Scott Hatton and Kelly Payne as assistant principals at Floyd Central, which meant Floyd Central now has four assistant principals instead of three. Joe Voelker, who had been an assistant principal, left Floyd Central to be the principal at Lanesville Jr./Sr. High School.

The new assistant principals are joining assistant principals Jody Johnson and Jeff Cerqueria on Floyd Central's administrative team.

Marsh voiced concerns about the level of turnover at Floyd Central, saying that "something's amiss."

"The turnover seems to be kind of unprecedented," Marsh said. "This was a school corporation where when I was hiring, I could go on for hours, I could hire the best person I could find, I would have 30 applicants for a position from nearby districts, and now people seem to be exiting the building for whatever reasons..."

He said he believes the school community "really can do much better than this."

Madison responded to the concerns expressed during public comments, saying his focus is "to put people in the best position to be successful." He is still new to his position as superintendent — the school board approved Madison as the district's leader in June.

He said Eckert will "steady the ship" at Floyd Central.

With delaying the hiring of a permanent principal, he said it is difficult to fill a position in July, and "you want to do it right." He noted that the district received internal candidates for the position but there were concerns about a "domino effect" in moving them from their current positions.

"It's not an indictment of any of the candidates that we had, especially the final three that we talked with, because all three of them are with us currently in roles right now that are very vital to our kids and our corporation," Madison said.

He said that Floyd Central has a strong administrative team in place to begin the school year, and NAFCS tried to hire the interim principal "as expeditiously as possible." He said retired NAFCS administrators were considered for the position, but the district also considered how long it had been since they served as a principal.

Eckert was Silver Creek High School's principal until the end of the 2022-23 school year. As he begins the interim position at Floyd Central, he said he is prepared for the transition.

"I'll give it everything I've got — I can tell everyone that," he said. "I don't have a mandate to change a lot of things up there. Everybody's done a good job. I'm getting an already very effective school ready for the school year, so I just want to come in and contribute and serve."

The NAFCS school board also hired for several other positions in the district at Monday's meeting. Amy Miller was hired as the dean of students at New Albany High School, and Ashley Nevin was hired as assistant principal at Highland Hills Middle School.

In addition, Jason Jones was hired as the new boys' basketball coach at New Albany High School.

See today's News and Tribune Sports section for more on Coach Jason Jones.