By Kshipra Hemal
Pine Whispers
Students in the class of 2012 won’t be the only ones leaving Reynolds High School in June. The man doling out the diplomas will also be moving on to a new phase in his life.
Principal Art Paschal’s last day leading RJR will be June 30. At 56, Paschal has clocked 32 years in education, the last seven at Reynolds. Although Paschal could not cite one particular reason for his decision, he sensed that this is the right time.
“There are a lot of changes happening in education right now with new curriculums, new accountability standards and new evaluation standards,” Paschal said last week, one day after announcing his decision to a surprised group of teachers at the April faculty meeting. “I’ve been thinking about retiring for a while, and with all these changes, it seems like a good time to step aside.”
But the seasoned educator isn’t running away from these changes. Instead, he attributed his decision to a more emotional matter.
“My dad, who was also a high school principal, died four months shy of his retirement, and I promised my mom and myself that I would retire in time to enjoy retirement,” Paschal said. “I’m not burned out or beat. My family is in good shape and the school is doing well. I’d just like to enjoy some time off.”
After seven years at Reynolds and 17 years as a high school principal, Paschal won’t completely sever ties with the school.
“I’ll definitely come back for performances, games and events,” Paschal said. “I just won’t be spending 60-70 hours per week on the job.”
As a retiree, Paschal intends to spend time with his four grandchildren, work on projects around the house, get involved in his church and play more golf. He looks forward to not having a schedule and he plans on keeping his retirement simple.
“I’m not going to go travel the world or anything,” Paschal said.
As for his successor, Paschal is confident that Reynolds will attract high-quality applicants for his soon-to-be-vacant desk. Reynolds’ new principal will be chosen through a typical application process: A committee, consisting of teachers, board members and representatives from central office, will be responsible for screening applications and conducting interviews. The committee will then forward its recommendations to the superintendent, who will make the ultimate decision.
“I’m going to miss getting to know the students and interacting with the teachers, but Reynolds has been a good school for a very long time,” Paschal said. “And it will stay that way, because it’s much larger than any one person or group of people.”