Dr. Mike Havener announced his retirement on Oct. 14 after 12 years employed as KHS principal. Though Havener’s retirement marks the end of his time at KHS, it begins the process of choosing a new principal to be considered by the KSD Board of Education (BOE) on Jan. 23, led by Superintendent, Dr. David Ulrich, and Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources, Dr. Howard Fields. Fields said he has experience choosing principals for other KSD schools.

“[The] process [for hiring principals] is essentially the same in that all [schools] want the best candidate,” Fields said. “[The difference] is the stage is a little bit larger because all students will matriculate through the flagship, that being the high school.”

Fields said choosing a new principal started in October when he received the retirement letter from Havener. The first part of the search was the KHS principal feedback survey that closed on Nov. 30. Fields said that 60% of the 840 respondents were KHS students. 

“The HR office is blown away by the support of KHS students,” Fields said. “That has to be the highlight and that thanks goes to all students and staff members who encouraged students to reply.” 

Data from the feedback survey showed that KHS students’ top priorities for a principal is their care for the mental health of students and there open-mindedness to different ideas. KHS staff’s top priority is someone who can make big decisions and trusts staff to do their job. For KHS parents, their top priority is someone who is accepting of everyone and has the emotional intelligence to connect with kids.

“[It’s important to follow the principal process] because the principal has a lot of influence on how the school works,” William Chen, junior, said. “And I think everyone wants to have a nice school day.”

On Dec. 31, the application for KHS principal closes. The data compiled from the survey will be used during the screening and interview process, according to Fields. Ulrich will make the final hiring decision and will present the candidate to the (BOE) at their meeting on Jan. 23. Then, the transition from Havener to the new principal will begin, culminating in the official first day for the new principal on July 1. Any interested applicants can apply here.

“For those who have applied, thank you, it takes a lot to go through the application,” Fields said. “That’s time away from other work and being with their family, and we don’t take that for granted. For those who are on the fence or haven’t applied yet, this is an outstanding opportunity for someone who feels they can come in and lead, loves support from community and staff, [who wants] to do great work for students and believes they can take the community and the school to the next level.”