Parents of Mingus Union High School can relax for the time being. An interim superintendent has been found to replace outgoing Mingus Union High School District Superintendent Paul Tighe.
According to a press release from MUHSD, Eric Harmon has agreed to serve for the 2016-17 fiscal year.
Harmon comes from Window Rock High School in Fort Defiance, Apache County, where he spent the 2015-16 school year as principal. During his tenure at Window Rock, Harmon oversaw the completion of the school’s two-year delinquent AdvancEd accreditation requirements and helped remove the school from non-compliance status regarding its English Language Learners program.
Prior to working at Window Rock, Harmon served for a decade and a half at Blue Ridge High School in Pinetop-Lakeside, Navajo County. In addition to coaching wrestling — Harmon is a national champion freestyle wrestler who has helped a dozen students make it to state championships — he acted as one of Blue Ridge’s mathematics teachers, its athletic director, assistant principal and principal.
As assistant principal from 2004 to 2008, Harmon said he was “in charge of all student discipline, including an expulsion for weapons possession my first year. I continued to coach wrestling throughout this term.” He added that, as athletic director, he was in charge of all athletic programs. “The success of our athletic programs is well known statewide.”
As principal at Blue Ridge, Harmon claimed to have consistently increased AIMS scores and the graduation rate while decreasing the dropout rate — “all while enduring debilitating cuts” to the school’s budget.
Harmon holds a bachelor’s in education from the University of Arizona and a master’s in educational leadership from Northern Arizona University. In addition, he possesses a Arizona Principal Certificate and an Arizona Superintendent Certificate.
“I will endeavor to provide a safe and effective learning environment by ensuring that every classroom has a highly qualified teacher in it that cares about every student, every day,” Harmon stated. “I vow to continue to improve myself and my district so that we can provide the community with a world-class education now and well into the future.”
Harmon’s tenure begins July 1. The MUHS governing board plans to seek a permanent superintendent early in 2017. For the entirety of the 2016-17 school year, the board has retained consulting services from Tighe.
Members of the community are invited to attend a meet- and-greet event with the interim superintendent, Tuesday, June 28, at 5:30 p.m. in the MUHS library, immediately preceding a meeting of the governing board.
