New Administration Hires for the 2022-2023 School Year
At a special board meeting of the Lawrence County CUSD #20 Board of Education on Friday, June 10th, the Board took action on personnel issues relating to the administrative team.
Mr. Paul Higginbotham has decided after many years as the Lawrenceville High School principal to complete his career at Unit 20 back in the classroom as the new 8th grade social studies teacher at Parkview Junior High School. Mr. Higginbotham has spent the past 12 years as the LHS principal. Prior to becoming the principal, Mr. Higginbotham served as the assistant principal at LHS from 2007-2010. During this time, Mr. Higginbotham has given much time, love, and passion to the LHS community; however, he has always wanted to finish his career back in the classroom as a teacher where he first began. CUSD #20 Superintendent Doug Daugherty said “Mr. Higginbotham has been a great asset to this district for many years, first as a teacher then as an administrator. We will miss his leadership at the high school, but we understand his desire to return to the classroom. Parkview is fortunate to have him join the staff.”
Unit 20 has hired Mr. Lance Boldt as the new principal of Lawrenceville High School to replace Mr. Higginbotham. Mr. Boldt is moving into the principal position beginning July 1 after 19 successful years as an educator. He is currently the LHS physical education teacher and head baseball coach. Prior to coming to LHS, Mr. Boldt spent the past 18 years in Mt. Vernon, IL. 16 of those years were spent teaching at Mt. Vernon Township High School. Upon acceptance of his new position, Mr. Boldt stated, “My family and I are excited, blessed, and honored to be able to continue to serve Unit 20 and the Lawrenceville community. I am ecstatic to be leading our community as the LHS principal. I, along with the faculty and staff, will be working to build upon the foundations laid before us to provide the best high school experience for our students.” In 2020, Mr. Boldt was named the Illinois State Board of Education’s Historical Society’s Olive Foster Teacher of the Year. In 2021, Mr. Boldt received the Southern Illinois Teacher of the Year award as a social studies teacher by the Section 618 committee. Mr. Boldt has extensive experience as a regular education and special education teacher, athletic director, coach, and numerous committees at the secondary level.
Unit 20 has also created a new position within the district to better serve the needs of our sports programs, athletes, and coaches. The current LHS athletic director, Mrs. Jamie Schultz, has been named the new Unit 20 district athletic director for the 2022-2023 school year. Mrs. Schultz currently serves as the LHS assistant principal, as well as the LHS athletic director. She will continue serving as the LHS athletic director; however, her responsibilities will now include all athletic director responsibilities throughout Unit 20. Mrs. Schultz is also an experienced and excellent math teacher. Unit 20 will be utilizing those skills and will have Mrs. Schultz teaching math at LHS for the upcoming school year. LHS will be working to expand the course offerings in the math department for their students and need the expertise of Mrs. Schultz.
To replace Mrs. Schultz as the assistant principal at LHS, Unit 20 Board of Education has hired Mr. Andrew Malone from Vincennes, Indiana, as the 2022-2023 assistant principal. Mr. Malone has served as the principal at Lakeview Jr/Sr High School at the Southwest Indiana Regional Youth Village since 2020. He has extensive experience with discipline, school safety, technology, and student behaviors. Mr. Malone also has experience with special education and coaching. Mr Malone has stated, “I am a humble individual who is passionate about education. I am eager to become a contributing leader and will do more than what is required for the school’s success. I am hard-working, empathetic, dependable, and honest person who has high standards.”
Mr. Daugherty said “I feel we have a good administrative team in place for the upcoming school year. Mr. Boldt and Mr. Malone will bring new ideas to the district and will work well with the staff to continue all the good programs we currently have in place. Mrs. Schultz moving to a district wide AD position will provide numerous benefits for our school and community.”