Jefferson County Public Schools Superintendent Donna Hargens is backing a unanimous decision by Louisville Male High's School Based Decision Making Council to hire Jim Jury as the school’s principal.
Jury would replace David Mike, who was ousted as principal at the school late last year for “conduct unbecoming of a teacher” following accusations of helping students cheat on the ACT test.
Jury has been the principal at Ballard High School since 2003 and was acting principal at Male this summer, when Mike was reassigned as the district began an investigation process into the cheating allegations. He served simultaneously as the top educator at Male and Ballard.
Speaking to WFPL on Wednesday, Hargens described Jury as “an experienced principal, the most experienced that we have.” She added his presence will bode well for Male in ensuring “it has a strong foundation and maintains that wonderful reputation.”
She said this is a “wonderful opportunity” for a fresh start for both Ballard and Male.
“Dr. Jury has done an outstanding job at Ballard, it has a strong foundation and things in place. And certainly Male is known for its wonderful reputation as well, so I think it starts a new chapter for each school,” she said. “Ballard is a strong school and Male is a strong school and we want both of them to be very successful.”
Hargens said Jury is expected to assume his role as principal of Male in the coming weeks. Ballard will also begin its search for a new principal.
