Some members of the Tanner community left Tuesday’s Limestone County School Board meeting upset after board members approved James Gordon as the school’s principal.

Gordon fills the vacancy left by the departure of long-time Principal Billy Owens, who is retiring this month.

When board members announced Gordon as Tanner principal, meeting attendees asked if they were allowed to know who voted for him and why current assistant principal Russ Cleveland was not chosen for the position.

Tanner parent and alumnus Angela Sides said she doesn’t see how anyone from outside Tanner High School can run the school as effective as Owens did during his time there.

“Billy Owens was the best principal Limestone County has ever had,” she said. “There is no way somebody coming in from outside this area that does not know Billy Owens’ legacy can fill those shoes.”

Sides said because Cleveland has worked with Owens, he is the only person who can run the school similarly.

“(Cleveland) poured his heart, soul, blood, sweat and tears in Tanner for three years,” she said. “He’s earned respect and trust from teachers and students. The hiring committee recommended him for the position. Where did that recommendation go?”

How Gordon was chosen

According to District 1 representative Charles Shoulders, the recommendation may have been there, but at the end of the hiring process, Gordon received the best score from four committees.

Each committee consists of residents from throughout the county, including the Tanner community. After each committee interviews candidates, members grade them and the names of the top two or three candidates are passed to the superintendent. From there, the superintendent recommends the candidate he feels is best suited for the position.

“It comes down to who has the highest score from the committee, and in this case, the person hired tonight scored higher than any other candidate and that was my sole reason for going with the recommendation,” Shoulders said.

He explained he understood why some were upset, but said he felt like the hiring process has worked in the past and would continue to work.

Following the meeting, Limestone County Superintendent Tom Sisk said he listened to the Tanner community, but didn’t agree with their choice for principal.

“The information I had available to me, they didn’t have, and I felt like this was the best recommendation I could make,” he said, adding he understands change is hard for some people. “We don’t change for change sake. We changed because after Billy Owens retired, those are big shoes to fill, and I had to put someone in there I felt like would do the job and take us to the next level.”

Sisk disputed claims that he is only hiring outsiders for high school positions. He then cited examples of when he hired from within the district.

“Just to clarify, when Tommy Hunter left Ardmore, we hired an inside candidate, Randy Hamilton. When the East Limestone left principal left, we hired an inside candidate,” he said. “In each of these situations, we used the same process.”

At the end of the meeting, Sisk told Tanner community members to give Gordon a chance. After the meeting, Sisk said he hopes community members will take it to heart.

“I hope it didn’t fall on deaf ears,” he said. “For the sake of the children, I hope they will give (Gordon) the opportunity to demonstrate what he is capable of being, and that is a good administrative leader.”

Gordon officially begins his position on July 1.

About Gordon

Gordon has been in the education field for 20 years. He has 12 years of administrative instructional leadership and eight years of teaching experience.

He taught at the college level as adjunct professor and has experience working with diverse populations in rural suburban and urban communities.

Gordon received his bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Mississippi, where he attended on a full athletic scholarship. He also received a bachelor of science in education from Athens State University. He completed his master’s degree in education leadership and foundations on the Marion George Academic Scholarship from Indiana State University.

Gordon received a Leadership Professional Development Certificate from Harvard Graduate School of Education. He graduated from Brooks High School in Lauderdale County where he played basketball, football, baseball and track. He was a two-time member of the all-state, all-area teams and received the Defensive Player of the Year award. He was inducted into the Lauderdale County Sports Hall of Fame in 2014.