by Dara Hill

Three principals in School District 58 will be rotating positions as of August 1.

Superintendent Steve McNiven reported the three principals appointed to new positions are Leroy Slanzi, Dan Duncan and Kevin McGifford.

McNiven reported Slanzi will leave Merritt Central Elementary School for Merritt Secondary School.

Duncan, currently the principal of Diamond Vale Elementary will be moving to Merritt Central Elementary to replace Slanzi.

To complete the cycle, McGifford — the acting principal at Merritt Secondary School since January — will go to Diamond Vale Elementary School.

McNiven explained shifts such as these are common in other districts throughout the province, but don’t occur often in School District 58.

He said the shuffle came out of a staffing need on their end, but they took into account the career goals of the principals as well.

“It certainly was anchored in the need to put a new principal at Merritt Secondary School, and then out of that came a request on our part to see what principals were interested in from a career point of view,” he said.

He explained that utilizing the unique strengths of each principal is also something they had in mind when making their decision.

“Each principal brings strengths, and I think those strengths can be used at different locations at the right time within a district, so that’s also what we’re trying to do,” he said.

McNiven noted the district will be posting other vacant positions in the near future, including the vice-principal position at Merritt Secondary School, the School Board’s secretary-treasurer position previously held by Kevin Black and a human resource manager.