White Hall High School Principal Nathan Sullivan has been hired as the Hamburg School District’s next superintendent.
The White Hall School Board accepted Sullivan’s resignation, effective at the end of this school year, at its regular board meeting Tuesday. The Hamburg district extended a contract offer to Sullivan on March 31, according to the Ashley News-Observer newspaper.
“Just a great opportunity for me and my family,” Sullivan said. “It’s really bittersweet because of the relationships and everything we built here at White Hall High School these last six years. I’m really proud of the work my staff, my teachers and my team have done here. I think we have a really good product for our families. I think we worked really hard to meet the families’ expectations and the kids’. I feel like we’ve done a pretty good job sending the kids to college and building a workforce here at White Hall High School. The proof is in the pudding, so to speak. I’m proud of what we’ve done here.”
Sullivan said he’s done all one can do in 29 years of education — naming coaching, teaching and bus driving among his previous duties. A former football coach in the Watson Chapel School District, Sullivan was an assistant principal at White Hall Middle School in the 2010s before leaving for Cutter Morning Star to become its principal. He was hired as White Hall High’s principal in 2019, going into a school year that would change education amid the covid-19 pandemic.
“Can’t duplicate that year, ever,” Sullivan said. “That year and then covid and everything that came along, if you served as a teacher, student, administrator and student, you can pretty much do anything.”
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The 2019-20 school year, Sullivan also said, showed him he can’t do anything without teamwork.
White Hall Superintendent Gary Williams, who previously helmed the Crossett School District near Hamburg, said Sullivan cares for kids in a way that’s hard to find every day in schools.
“I see his heart for the kids, and a lot of times people just see what is seen in public, but I get a chance to see people behind the scenes and you can see the passion they have for what they do and the concern,” Williams said. “You see the concern about, how do we help this kid or how do we get through this situation? How do we get through this personal problem? He brings a lot of compassion to this job, so that’s special in school business.”
Sullivan’s impending departure is one of many notable personnel moves the White Hall School Board approved Tuesday. Assistant Principal Skip Carr, who led White Hall to two state baseball championships as a coach, and superintendent’s administrative assistant Beverly Beck will retire at the end of the school year.
Carr has been an educator for 37 years, spending the past 31 at White Hall High after starting in the Dollarway School District. He helped White Hall win a state championship as a senior in 1980 and led the Bulldogs to two 5A state titles in 2012 and 2014, with a runner-up finish in 2015.
Carr has been an assistant principal for seven years and said he could see Sullivan becoming a superintendent one day.
“He has great communication skills and knows the school business well,” Carr said. “He knows all sides of it and (is) very personable, easy to talk to. He has all the qualities.”
Both Sullivan and Carr have said they will miss the people of the White Hall School District, which Sullivan called the premier district in the area.
“I’ve been around White Hall people my whole life. It’s going to be hard there,” Carr said.
Regarding retirement plans, Carr said: “I will throw my alarm clock away and not be on any schedule. I have no plans except that I am going to pick up a few golf clubs.”
Carr said former football Coach Mike Vaughn texted him asking whether he needed left-handed or right-handed clubs. “At this point, it doesn’t really matter,” Carr responded.
Beck is the person Williams says he works with the closest, adding her professionalism is unmatched.
“She knows what I need before I do, and it’s on my desk, or the question is being answered by her before I ask it,” Williams said. “Again, she’s such a tremendous person who does it the right way with professionalism and compassion. I will miss her.”