Hoover High School Principal Don Hulin to retire after 10 years leading the Bucs

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Hoover High School Principal Don Hulin announced on Thursday he is retiring after 10 years at the helm of Alabama’s largest high school.

Hulin, who came to Hoover in May 2008, will officially retire in December, but Superintendent Kathy Murphy said the school system will go ahead and hire a new principal prior to the start of the 2018-19 school year.

She and Hulin agreed it’s not in the best interest of the school to try to fill that job in the middle of the school year because it will be harder to attract the best candidates halfway through the year, she said.

“I will start the search immediately,” she said.

She hopes to have a new principal selected and in place by July 1, but that timeframe is extremely optimistic, so it could take longer, she said.

Once the new principal is on board, she expects Hulin will assist him or her in the transition to the new job, and then Hulin will take on other assignments from the central office until his official retirement date in December, she said.

Efforts to reach Hulin for comment so far have been unsuccessful, but Murphy said Hulin’s departure was something initiated by him and that he had been thinking about for some time. She put no pressure on him to retire, she said.

Hulin arrived at Hoover High School at a crucial time, Murphy said. He followed several principals who served short terms after the death of former Principal Gene Godwin in 2004 and has become the school’s longest-serving principal.

Hulin oversaw the effort to convert HHS' separate freshman campus into a middle school and pull hundreds of ninth-graders back into the main school in the fall of 2011. He also was in charge during the construction of a three-story, 36-classroom expansion that was completed in 2013, giving HHS a total square footage of more than 400,000 square feet and the capacity to handle 3,100 to 3,200 students.

He served HHS well, is respected by colleagues and teachers and developed strong relationships with students over the years, Murphy said. “I certainly have high regard and high respect for him,” she said.

Rhonda Cantelow, who is entering her second year as president of the Hoover High PTSO, said she has mixed feelings about Hulin leaving. On one hand, she’s happy that he is healthy and able to move into the next phase of his life and spend more time with family in retirement. But she’s sad to see him go because she enjoyed working with him.

“I just like how open he was,” she said.”

He has always been honest and always gotten back with her when she tried to contact him, and he really loves the students, Cantelow said. He is so personable, and it’s easy to talk with him, she said. He works well with both teachers and parents, she said.

“He was like the greatest cheerleader of the school really.”

While the search for a replacement will be quick, Murphy said she also doesn’t want to act too hastily.

“One of the most important things I do as superintendent is get principalships right,” she said. “This is a big challenge and a big responsibility for us to select the very best person we can.”

With HHS being the largest high school in the state — about 2,900 students — it needs a dynamic leader at the helm, Murphy said.

The job also is currently the highest paid principal job in Alabama, according to a recent analysis by AL.com. Hulin is paid a salary of $147,846 a year. Murphy said the salary for his replacement will be negotiated, based on the demands of the job and the person’s experience and qualifications.

The job opening could be posted today, she said.

Before coming to Hoover, Hulin spent eight years as principal at Marbury High School, a K-12 school in Autauga County. He graduated high school in Covington, Louisiana, and is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force and member of the Louisiana National Guard.

This article was updated at 1:36 p.m. with more background about Hulin and at 5:29 p.m. with comments from PTSO President Rhonda Cantelow.