Breckenridge Texan

By Carla McKeown/Breckenridge Texan

Breckenridge High School and South Elementary will be getting new administrators in the upcoming weeks after the Breckenridge Independent School District Board of Trustees approved recommendations from Superintendent Bryan Allen at a special meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 18.

After a 16-minute executive session to discuss the recommendations, the board returned to regular session and voted to hire:

• Christopher Hancock as the new Breckenridge High School principal on a one year, 12-month probationary, certified administrator contract, prorated for the remainder of the 2021-2022 school year, subject to assignment, and,
• Patricia Gonzalez as the new South Elementary assistant principal on a one year, 11.5-month probationary, certified administrator contract, prorated for the remainder of the 2021-2022 school year, subject to assignment.

The positions have been open since late July when then-BHS Principal Dr. William Paul announced that he had accepted an offer from Windthorst Independent School District to become the new superintendent there. After waiting the required 21 days, he signed the contract with WISD shortly before the BISD meeting Wednesday evening. Paul’s wife, RaKel Paul, had been the assistant principal at South Elementary.

Hancock will begin his new job in Breckenridge as soon as he is able to leave his current position as assistant principal of Bowie Middle School in Odessa. According to the Ector County ISD website, Hancock joined the Bowie staff after having served as the dean of students at New Tech High School in Odessa. He has also taught at Miller High School in Corpus Christi, Holmes and Jay High School in San Antonio’s Northside ISD, and Midland High School. He earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Texas A&M Corpus Christi and a master’s degree in educational leadership from the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Gonzalez is moving back to Breckenridge from Conroe, where she has been an educator. Allen said she has been a principal in the Conroe ISD and will start here on Aug. 30.

In other business in the meeting, the board of trustees approved the following:

• a proposal making 4-H an extracurricular activity at BISD and naming Stephens County Extension Agent Sumer Russell as an adjunct faculty member. Her husband, board member Roy Russell, abstained from the voting.
• a donation from the Breckenridge All-Sports Booster Club. The donation of $3, 815 will be combined with $2,000 from the school district to purchase a volleyball net system for the junior high.
• two amendments to the 2020-21 budget, one for the booster club donation and purchase of the volleyball nets and one for funds to replace a freezer.

The school board will hold a public meeting at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 25, in the BISD Administration Office Board Room, 208 N. Miller, to discuss the budget that will determine the tax rate. Then, at 6:30 p.m., the board will meet to vote on the proposed budget.

Cutline, top photo: Breckenridge ISD Superintendent Bryan Allen, left, discusses with board members his recommendations for a new high school principal and elementary assistant principal during a special meeting on Wednesday. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

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