Petree Hired as Secondary School Principal
The GCISD school board on April 14 hired John Petree as the secondary school principal. He was given a 12-month contract at a salary of $55,000. Petree and his wife, HollyAnn have two children, Callie, age three, and Noah, 18 months. Ms. Petree is a certified math teacher, but is choosing to stay at home with their children. Petree has been the PK – 12 principal at Cotton Center, a small farming community north of Lubbock, since 2000. From 1999–2000, he taught fourth grade in the Crane ISD, and taught first grade in the Ector County ISD from 1998–99.
Petree is currently attending the University of Texas of the Permian Basin to obtain his superintendent’s certification. He obtained a Masters of Arts in Educational Administration from UTPB in 1999, a Bachelor of Science from Southwestern University in Georgetown in 1996, and an Associate of Arts from Dallas Christian College in 1995.
Beginning in February, a selection committee interviewed 12 applicants for the principal’s job. The committee then recommended four of those to School Superintendent Steve Long, and after additional interviews and visits to the applicants’ districts, he recommended Petree to the school board, who made the final decision.
The selection committee was composed of: Brad Jones, elementary school principal, district elementary committee chairman; Dinette Watkins, high school secretary; Jill Tubb, secondary school English teacher, district improvement committee; Jerry Cannon, technology coordinator, math teacher; Linda Jones, high school science teacher, high school improvement team; Bea Correa, ESL, bilingual teacher; Jessica Hoch, member of high school student council and Steve Sturtz, county agent, elementary district improvement team.