Merrell announces plans to leave LMS, SWHS

Rod Merrell, the principal at South Whidbey High School and Langley Middle School, has been offered the job of principal at Mount Vernon High School.

Merrell said Wednesday he has accepted the position, but said his move is not yet official.

"I'm waiting for the board to make a ruling or a decision on that," Merrell said, adding that the Mount Vernon School Board is expected to make a decision on filling the position at its business meeting tonight.

The South Whidbey School Board is also expected to announce Merrell's departure at its meeting tonight.

Mount Vernon High School, a ninth- through 12th-grade school, has an enrollment of roughly 1,800 students.

Merrell took over as principal of SWHS in July 2010 as part of the South Whidbey district's restructuring in light of declining enrollment, but he continued to serve as principal at Langley Middle School, where he took over that school's top spot in 2006.

Merrell graduated with an English degree and master’s in curriculum from the University of Washington. A former English teacher at Issaquah High School, Merrell worked at Coupeville High School in the early 1990s. He was also an assistant principal in Mountlake Terrace before becoming principal at LMS.

"It's a pretty exciting opportunity," Merrell said of the principal's post at Mount Vernon.

"There's a challenge there that I'm really intersted in," he said. "And, it's really good career move for me."

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