The city schools won”t reopen until Aug. 8, but new Columbus High School Principal Scott Hallmark has been busy crunching data and crafting a list of goals and priorities.
Hallmark focused on three issues during his presentation to the Columbus Municipal School District during Monday night”s meeting: a safe and orderly school, classroom instruction and a healthy climate.
Those three issues, he continued, are the main elements necessary to create a successful school.
“I think Columbus High School is an excellent school,” Hallmark told board members. “But there are a few areas of concern.”
He said he intends to focus on a number of things, including residency checks and dress code enforcement, as well as eradicating issues with student absenteeism, student foot traffic during classroom hours and discipline.
Among the dress code changes, Hallmark said he plans to enforce tucked-in shirts, belts and no sagging trousers, because such clothing represents a safety issue by allowing possible weapons and contraband.
“Hopefully, with consistent and timely intervention, we can knock that out in a few weeks,” Hallmark said.
He also emphasized making sure students receive due process.
Every student, he added, should have a chance to present his or her side of a matter.
“Sometimes that”s all they want,” he said. “The worst thing you can do is not give that student a voice … you can lose a student that way.”
After the meeting, Hallmark declined to elaborate on the discipline concerns he alluded to in his presentation, but said even “one fight in a school year is too many.”
Hallmark, the former associate principal of West Point High School, replaces former Columbus High School principal Craig Shannon, who resigned from the position in March in order to return to the central office and continue his role as special assistant to the superintendent.
Hallmark holds a master”s degree in Educational Leadership from Delta State University in Cleveland and is married with two children.
Carmen K. Sisson is the former news editor at The Dispatch.
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