New assistant superintendents named, Celina Record

Celina ISD names new assistant superintendents Lisa Ferguson, lferguson@starlocalmedia.com Apr 27, 2016 A pair of Celina ISD school principals will move into district administrative positions in July. Bill Hemby, principal of Celina High School, will become the district’s assistant superintendent of maintenance and operations, while Celina Junior High School Principal John Mathews will serve as the assistant superintendent of administrative services, a newly created position in the district. Both open positions were posted earlier this year on the district’s website. “We inserted these two key leadership positions to help facilitate district needs in a more efficient and effective manner moving forward,” said Superintendent Rick DeMasters, who in his role has been performing duties related to both positions. “To help prepare for the growth and to allow us to work in a more effective manner, we’re delegating some of these responsibilities to people who can give more attention and more focus to those things.” Hemby and Mathews will leave their campus positions following the end of this school year. The district has already begun the search for their replacements by posting the open principal positions on its website. “That’s why we chose to name these (assistant superintendent) assignments now, so that gives the district an opportunity to implement its search and find the best possible candidates for those places,” DeMasters said. Both internal and external candidates may apply for the principal positions, he said. As the assistant superintendent of maintenance and operations, Hemby will assume the administrative responsibilities involved with the planning, supervision and evaluation of all district operations, services and facilities. “Mr. Hemby has a background being a high school principal. You’re involved with a lot of that from a campus perspective already,” DeMasters said. Hemby, who has been in education for 30 years, said the position will bring him one step closer to achieving a longtime career goal. “I want to run a school district before I get said and done with things one of these days,” he said, “so it was very important to me to be able to start that path and be able to get the experience I need from a central-administrative (position) standpoint.” Hemby has been with Celina ISD for 13 years. The bulk of those were spent as an athletics coach at Celina High School, where he also served three years as assistant principal before becoming principal four years ago. His parents were school principals in North Texas. His father, James Hemby, was superintendent of Newcastle ISD. The Celina ISD assistant superintendent position “will allow me to be with people, to support them,” said Hemby, 52, as well as “be in tune with what’s going on with [the district’s] facilities and how we can best serve our children.” Nevertheless, he said he will miss interacting daily with students. “My kids have been and always will be very important to me throughout any occupation I have within the school district.” As assistant superintendent, Hemby said he plans to be “involved as much as I can with … making decisions about what’s in the best interest of the kids and how we can keep them safe and what we can do in order to provide them the best educational environment possible.” The list of duties for the assistant superintendent of administrative services position, which Mathews will tackle, is lengthy. DeMasters said it includes assisting in the planning and implementation of district programs as well as human resources-related matters; state and federal compliance reporting; overseeing student instructional services; and evaluation of all school programs. Mathews’ education career spans two decades during which he has worked for public school districts including Melissa ISD and at a private school. Having been with Celina ISD for three years, he said he applied for the assistant superintendent job in hopes of being able to help prepare the district for its anticipated growth. “I’ve said to Mr. DeMasters all along, ‘You put me where you want me so that I can best support you,’ and really that was my conversation with him regarding this new position,” he said. Mathews, 45, said he is “excited and nervous” about his new job. “There’s just a lot to be done.” Nevertheless, he said, “I really feel like this is going to be a way for me to … have an impact not just at a single campus, but across the district.” Follow the Celina Record on Twitter @celinarecord.