Parents ‘blindsided’ after school board votes not to renew contracts for Alex II principal, vice principal

Parents at Alexander II Magnet School are searching for answers after learning the schools principal and assistant principal will not return for the next school year.

At a Feb. 20 Bibb County school board meeting, board members voted 6-2 to not renew contracts for Alexander II Magnet School Principal Angel Woodard and Vice Principal Meredith Byrd. The board did not discuss the decision in open session. Sundra Woodford and board president Myrtice Johnson were the two dissenting votes.

Bibb Schools Superintendent Dan Sims, several school board members and both Woodard and Byrd told The Melody that they’re not allowed to discuss personnel matters.

“We are working collaboratively with the district to ensure Alexander II Magnet School is in good hands for the next school year,” wrote principal Angel Woodard in her letter.

Byrd has been the vice principal since 2018 and Woodard arrived at Alex II just last year. According to Woodard’s letter, the two have had 20-year-long careers in education.

Alex II’s PTA president Rocio Garcia and other school community members handed out flyers Thursday calling on parents and staff to email board members and attend next month’s board meeting.

Garcia said parents were “blindsided” by the decision, given the strong relationship the two administrators have developed with parents and staff and the lack of communication from the board.

She said Byrd and Woodard were very “personable” and do a good job to “ensure students have resources.”

“We want answers from the board,” she said. “We feel there was a lack of transparency.”

Garcia said parents and teachers have concerns about continuity, job security and turnover, with the school hiring its third principal in just four years.

The application-only elementary school has the highest “readiness” and “content mastery” scores in the county, according to the state department of education.