As more than 480 students attend their last event as Habersham Central High School Raiders, so will Habersham Central’s Principal, Dr. Jonathan Stribling. Stribling accepted the assistant school superintendent’s position for the White County School System on Thursday evening.
Habersham County Assistant School Superintendent Patrick Franklin confirmed Stribling’s departure just hours before Habersham Central’s graduation Friday night.
“They approved him last night in White County. We will speak to the faculty today,” Franklin said.
Returning home
Dr. Stribling will succeed Scott Justus as the assistant superintendent of operations for the White County School System. Justus is retiring at the end of June.
Director of Human Resources for White County Schools Laura Corley said in an email that Dr. Stribling comes “highly recommended.” He has 22 years of experience as a Georgia educator, including time spent in Habersham, White, and Stephens counties.
Upon accepting the offer for the position, Stribling said, “I want to thank Dr. Burkett and the White County Board of Education for the opportunity to serve as assistant superintendent of operations for White County Schools. I am excited to lead and contribute to the school system in the community I call home, and look forward to continuing the tradition of excellence in White County Schools.”
When he began teaching in 2002, Dr. Stribling taught middle school in Stephens County for two years. He then went to White County, where he was a middle and high school agriculture teacher from 2004 to 2010. During that time, Stribling worked on the committee to build the White County Ag Science Center, advised the FFA programs, and supervised the operation of the White County Cannery.
Upon moving his career to Habersham County, Stribling was the CTAE Director and Assistant Principal for Habersham Central High School from July 2010 to July 2017. In July 2017, Dr. Stribling was appointed Principal of Habersham Central High School.
‘Excited’ to have him back
Under his leadership, HCHS attained a 98% graduation rate and was ranked #1 among Pioneer RESA high schools in student attendance, according to Corley. Additionally, she says the school achieved the highest mean SAT and ACT scores in the region.
Stribling will return to his home county’s school system to oversee capital projects, human resources, finance, safety, school nutrition, technology, and transportation.
“We are very excited to have Jonathan come back home to the White County School System. I had the privilege of teaching with Jonathan many years ago,” said White County School Superintendent Dr. Laurie Burkett. “His track record speaks for itself, and he will be a great addition to our team. Welcome home, Jonathan.”
Stribling will begin his new job in July.
Search for new HCHS principal begins
The process for hiring Stribling’s replacement has been initiated. Franklin said, “We’ve posted the job. It’s out there. We posted it last night.”
Franklin says the Habersham County School System will start interviewing next week. “We will have a very large committee with all of the stakeholders involved,” Franklin said.
Franklin hopes that in the coming weeks, the committee will have selected a candidate to recommend to the board to replace Stribling. However, he added that for today, May 24, and tonight, the focus will be on graduation.
Dean Dyer of WRWH Radio contributed to this report
