Principal search: Carson HIgh looks for new chief

Wanted: Principal for Carson High School.

The job posting is simple, but Carson City School District Superintendent Mary Pierczynski warns the job is anything but easy.

"Carson High School is a complex organization," she explained. "Someone needs to be able to not only oversee the classes there, but all of the other organizations and extracurricular activities. There's so much going on. You want someone who can handle 2,500 students and all of the staff."

In November, Principal Glen Adair announced his plans to retire at the end of the school year, after leading the school for 12 years.

District officials opened the job earlier this month and are advertising it nationwide, with an emphasis on Western states.

Announcements were sent to universities with educational leadership programs in surrounding states, and school districts throughout Nevada were notified. Job postings have been set up on Web sites for the National Association of School Boards and the National Association of School Administrators.

"We want to make sure we are finding the very best leader for that school," Pierczynski said. "This is a very big job for our community. Every student in public education in Carson City will go through that school."

The deadline for filing applications is 4 p.m. March 15. Once they are in, a committee will be formed to interview potential candidates.

The committee will make a recommendation to the superintendent, who will, in turn, make a recommendation to the Carson City School Board in April.

Board trustees will make the final decision.

"We want someone who has experience in secondary education," Pierczynski said. "You want somebody who has had experience and has been successful in that experience."

Adair came to Carson High School in 1992 from Elko. Since then, he has been diagnosed with diabetes, had two heart attacks, underwent open-heart surgery, and went through chemotherapy after being diagnosed with colon cancer in 2001.

However, he is retiring with a clean bill of health.

Contact Teri Vance at tvance@nevadaappeal.com or at 881-1272.