Board tabs McCugh to lead JHS
By JIMMY GALVAN Managing Editor

Kevin McCugh knows a challenge when he sees one.

The Jasper Independent School District Board of Trustees selected McCugh as new principal of Jasper High School last week after serving the previous year as principal at Brookeland High School.

"It's a big challenge and a tremendous opportunity for me," McCugh said. "I feel very blessed to be given the opportunity.

"It's something that I wasn't really expecting but it happened pretty quickly and I'm looking forward to it," McCugh said, who started at JHS Monday.

McCugh said he could have easily stayed in Brookeland for a longer time.

"The school district runs very smoothly with a good board and administrators," McCugh said. "But I have never backed away from a challenge."

Even though he comes from a smaller district, he is used to the larger school districts as well. McCugh graduated from a Class 5A school and earned his degree at the University of Texas-Austin.

"There will be an adjustment period for me but I'm familiar with the staff at JHS," said McCugh, who is in his 17 year in the education field.

He said when he heard about the position opening he didn't immediately apply for it.

"After talking with my family, my wife encouraged me to apply for it and see where the process took me," McCugh said.

McCugh said he is looking to add "positive leadership" to the high school.

"I have enjoyed and learned a lot in Brookeland but what you learn in the school business is it's a people business," McCugh said. "TAKS scores are important but it's about bringing people together and interaction with the teachers and the interaction between the teachers and their students.

"The classrooms are where the results are going to come from," McCugh said.

He is aware of the turnover in the district in the past couple of years at the school leadership level.

"The reputation of JHS is very strong and I just want to come in and add to it," McCugh said.

He said he intends to bring "order and discipline to the students at the school."

"You need your teachers' support," McCugh said. "You have to keep the lines of communications open with the parents and keep it from becoming an adversarial role.

"In reality, we all have a common goal and that is to get the high school kids ready for graduation and their lives after graduation," McCugh said. "I want parent involvement. At the elementary level, you have that parental involvement but it decreases a bit every year.

"At the high school level, it appears that parents believe they have taken their students this far and now you take them the rest of the way," McCugh said. "But in reality, that is the age that they need the parents the most because there is so much more for them to get into these days. It's easy for a high school kid to make a decision that is not in their best interest. It's our job to guide them so they don't make those types of mistakes."

He said his door would always be open to the teachers and general public.

"When I start working, I want the teachers to feel free to come by and visit with me," McCugh said. "I've always been the kind of person that likes to collaborate. We have a lot of teachers in the district that are experienced that know how JHS operates. They know the positive aspects and they know the areas that need improvements.

"I will not be coming in there with the attitude that I have all the answers because there are a lot of questions that I will see the teachers' input on," McCugh said. "It would be silly for me to come in and not use those people to help me get my feet on the ground."