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Longtime teacher picked as White City principal By VICKI GUARINO WHITE CITY -- Parents, community members and school staff have picked a new principal for White City Elementary. Some 20 people -- and not a single district official in the bunch -- participated in a five-month search that lead to naming veteran White City teacher Jay Sparks the top candidate. Sparks, 43, of Talent, has taught in White City for 21 years. He is set to replace principal Bill Jones, who becomes district superintendent July 1. One of Jones' first official tasks will be to recommend Sparks as his successor to the Eagle Point School Board. Although Jones played no part in the selection process, he said he'll be happy to support Sparks. "I told him that his moving in made my moving out a whole lot easier," Jones said Wednesday. The school's selection committee, Jones said, "couldn't have made a better choice." White City Elementary, with about 440 students, has a history of making its own personnel decisions. It is part of a broader system of decentralized community-based control of individual schools that Jones pioneered. In the past few years, other schools in the 4,000-student Eagle Point district have developed similar procedures. At White City, committees within the school that include parents make most spending and organization decisions, said school secretary Tori Reynolds. At times, Reynolds said, teachers have been hired by committees without Jones' participation. Reynolds was part of the group that selected Sparks. They began their work in February, after Jones announced that he would resign from White City next summer. Reynolds said the school received applications from around the county. Committee members picked Sparks, she said, because of his history with the school and the community, and his contributions to shaping instruction in White City. Also, Reynolds said, "he has a real understanding of the community. He's good with families and families are important to him -- not just the kids, but the community as a whole." A large share of students live in poverty, which puts them at risk for academic failure. A sizable percentage are Hispanic, and cope with language barriers as well. For about five years Sparks' school has experimented with class structure, keeping students together with a single teacher for several years. Sparks said the pilot efforts have been beneficial in improving student behavior and social skills, as well as boosting academic achievement test scores. In the coming school year, for the first time, all students will be enrolled in the multiyear program. Although the new class system requires that teachers be more flexible, Sparks said, "We really made a commitment to try to keep those kids together." Sparks said he's looking forward to his new assignment. He has taken some leadership positions in school governing committees, and has found he likes the job. "I like the role of working with the teachers to reach kids." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA