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Teton High School leadership team recommends new principal, board approves expanded 2025–26 staffing
Summary
After a multiweek review the Teton High School leadership team unanimously recommended a new principal and administrative structure; the district presented a staffing package for 2025–26 that the board approved, adding instructional and counseling positions and splitting the activities director and academic dean roles.
Teton High School’s leadership team presented a unanimous recommendation for a three‑person administrative team and the Teton County School District board approved a package of new 2025–26 positions intended to strengthen leadership and student supports.
District staff told the board the leadership team of 13 department chairs and counselors spent several sessions reviewing applicants and school needs and arrived at a consensus recommendation. The letter the team produced named Kristen West as principal, Marshall Givens as assistant principal and Patrick Hogan as activities director/assistant principal. Board members were briefed that the recommendation grew out of interviews and a discussion of four hiring options the team had considered.
Board discussion focused on staffing to address school culture, student behavior and academic rigor at the high school. District staff proposed several changes to the staffing model presented earlier, including making the activities director a full‑time administrative role, creating an academic dean position inside the counseling suite rather than hiring a district bilingual social worker, adding a 0.5 CTE (career and technical education) position shared with the middle school and adding a STEM/science teacher at THS. Finance staff said the package had been modeled against projected revenues and could be accommodated in the 2025–26 budget proposal.
At the meeting a board member moved to approve the staffing list for 2025–26. The motion, as read by a trustee, listed the new and restructured roles: a STEM position at Teton High School; a DES (Driggs Elementary School) special education 0.25 position (quarter position); a full‑time TMS (Teton Middle School) special education position; a full‑time EL (English Learner) position at DES; a THS athletic director/assistant principal position; and an academic dean position at THS. A second was made and the board voted in favor.
District staff emphasized the proposal was intended to provide boots‑on‑the‑ground supports at THS—permanent bilingual community coordination, an additional counselor/dean resource, and more instructional capacity in science and CTE—so the school could address immediate needs rather than relying on district‑level staff who would be spread across sites. Finance staff clarified budget estimates presented earlier: an example number shown on the slide (“$90,000”) represented total compensation plus benefits, not base salary only.
The leadership team’s letter, read into the record, said its work was completed “with professionalism” and that the recommendation was unanimous. District staff said the team had interviewed external candidates and compared them to possible in‑district transfers before arriving at its recommendation. The board approved the staffing package for 2025–26; hiring of individual administrators was discussed but the personnel appointments were not recorded as formal board personnel votes in the meeting minutes.
District officials said the staffing package is intended to begin implementation for the coming school year and that some transfers will have “domino” effects across other schools; the administration committed to supporting affected schools with transitions and to returning to the board with follow‑up details as transfers are finalized.
