By JOYANNA LOVE/ Senior Staff Writer

Ron Pinson is the new principal of Chilton County High School.

The Chilton County Board of Education approved the appointment 5 to 1 during the special called meeting on Oct. 4.  Board President Lori Patterson and board members Joe Mims, Jim Shannon, Curtis Smith and Keith Moore voted in favor. Board member Pam Price voted against.  Board member Linda Hand was absent.

Pinson’s contract will be for the remainder of the school year and next school year.

Price expressed concern that the candidate did not live in Chilton County.

“I do have a concern because this will be the third principal we have hired in the county that does not live here, has not chosen to move here and has not put their children in the school system,” Price said.

Mims agreed.

Price asked if there were local candidates who were qualified. Schools Superintendent Tommy Glasscock said individual candidates could only be discussed in an executive session. Price’s motion for an executive session failed.

In an interview after the meeting, Pinson said he lives in Sylacauga. Pinson said his wife works for a company that has three locations. She has been transferred to the Calera location, and hopes to transfer to the Clanton location in the future.

“We have discussed moving this way and getting involved in the community here,” Pinson said.

Pinson has served as interim principal since the beginning of the school year, due to the pending retirement of Principal Cynthia Stewart. When the school system began accepting applications last month, Pinson applied.

Pinson came to CCHS as an assistant principal in 2016.

“I came in and I fell in love with the school and the kids and the teachers,” Pinson said.

He said this community feel drew him to the principal position.

Prior to that, he worked at Northview High School as an assistant principal for four years. He is in his 18th year in education. He chose education as a career after serving in the military.

“I had a grandmother who was a teacher,” Pinson said. “My mother was a teacher … that passion for serving (as a teacher) is very similar to the military.”

Pinson is excited about the position and implementing new things at CCHS, such as academic letters for A and B students and senior conference, where students will present what they have learned at CCHS. Exit interviews and mock interview opportunities are also in the works.

Also during the meeting, the board approved resignations from a bus driver and a special education teacher.