Principal Taking Springdale Job

— Bentonville High School’s principal appears headed for Springdale to become that School District’s next assistant superintendent for secondary education.

Mary Ley, Bentonville’s director of communications, confirmed Friday that Kim Garrett was chosen for the Springdale job.

Meeting Information

Springdale School Board

When: 5 p.m. Tuesday

Where: Administration Building, 804 W. Johnson Ave.

Rick Schaeffer, Springdale schools spokesman, said Friday officials wouldn’t confirm or comment on Garrett until Tuesday’s School Board meeting. Superintendent Jim Rollins will introduce the people chosen to fill two positions in his administration: assistant superintendent for secondary education and the deputy superintendent for personnel.

Kathy McFetridge, Springdale School Board president, said she hadn’t heard anything about the new hires.

“Dr. Rollins hasn’t shared this with us yet,” McFetridge said. “He hires the personnel he feels are best for the job.”

The board’s approval of the new employees isn’t required, Schaeffer said.

Garrett didn’t return a phone message seeking comment Friday.

She would replace Don Love, who is retiring at the end of June after 40 years in education, including 10 years in his current position. Grades eight through 12 are under Love’s direction.

Hartzell Jones, Springdale’s deputy superintendent for personnel, also is retiring this year after 47 years in education, including 44 years with Springdale. He’s the longest-tenured employee in the district.

Garrett started in Bentonville in 2004 as assistant principal at the high school. She was hired by Gary Compton, Bentonville’s superintendent at the time, who is now assistant superintendent for support services for the Springdale district.

Garrett became principal at Bentonville’s Washington Junior High School in 2005. She returned to the high school to become principal in March 2009.

She has led the high school during a time of heated debate in the community over how to handle the school’s burgeoning enrollment. Bentonville High School is the largest high school in the state with about 3,900 students in grades nine through 12.

When the Bentonville’s School Board decided in 2011 to pursue construction of a ninth-grade center, Garrett supported the concept.

“I think one of our big goals is the idea that by separating ninth-grade students we can focus directly on them,” Garrett said, for a newspaper report published in December 2011.

Soon after that, however, the School Board changed course and opted to pursue a second high school through a proposed 6.7-mill tax increase. Voters rejected the proposal in June.

Springdale has two high schools, but those schools house grades 10 through 12. Grades eight and nine are grouped at the junior high schools.

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