The Stevenson Elementary School site-based decision making council picked the school’s new principal at a meeting Thursday night and officially announced the hiring after school on Friday.
Debbie Brown, who currently serves as the instructional supervisor for the Todd County Board of Education, will take over for outgoing principal Tammy Corum when she retires this summer.
“I am excited about this opportunity, but I know I have some large shoes to fill,” Brown said. “But I welcome that challenge.”
Brown has spent the past four years working in an administrator at the Todd County Board. Prior to that, she spent 17 years in the classroom at North Todd Elementary teaching many different grades.
“We are pleased with this decision and we know everyone else will be too,” said Sherry Bouldin, the vice-chair of the site-based decision making council. “This is absolutely the best thing for the school, the children and the community.”
Superintendent Leon Smith praised the site-based council for doing a good job in the selection process.
“We really did scrutinize the applications we had, the council spent a lot of time scrutinizing the applications we had,” Smith said. “We also did a lot of reference checks.”
He said that her time spent in the classroom and as an assistant principal at the elementary school level - and her time as an administrator at the Todd County central office made Brown the perfect candidate for the job.
“We think she is bringing the whole package of what we were looking to hire as a principal,” Smith said. “She is exactly the person we need to make some needed changes at Stevenson and take us to the next level.”
Brown praised the gains made by the school under Corum and said even better improvements will happen in the future.
“We are going to be more even successful going forward,” Brown said.
Brown, who spent part of Monday at Stevenson familiarizing herself with the school, said she couldn’t have picked a better place to have her first principal job.
“I’ve heard nothing but good things about this school and the staff here,” Brown said.
After spending the past four years working as an administrator at the Todd County Schools central office, Brown is also looking forward to getting back into an elementary setting.
“I knew six months in to my new job that I missed my kids,” Brown said. “I would have to go back to the elementary school every so often just to get my hugs from the children.”
Getting used to a new school in a new district will also be a challenge, since Brown has spent her entire career in Todd County up to this point.
“I’m sure it’ll be an adjustment, but I don’t think it will take too long to get used to it,” Browns aid. “I’m only four years out of the classroom, so that’s not so long that I feel like I’ve gotten out of touch from what it’s like to be in the classroom.”
One of her first tasks will be finding a new assistant principal for SES. Longtime assistant Matt Tipton is joining Corum in retirement at the end of this school year.
“People need to realize that she is still under contract with Todd County schools and will just be working with us as time allows,” Smith said. “She will also be looking at some teaching positions positions we will have available at Stevenson, but I am sure her first order of business will be looking for a new assistant principal. But that probably won’t happen for a few weeks yet.”
Brown lives in Elkton and has two college-aged daughters, who are attending Murray State University.
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