Board of Education names Darryl Williams Blair principal

In its meeting today, the MCPS Board of Education (BOE) announced that Darryl Williams will be Blair's next principal. Williams has been the principal at Gaithersburg High School since 2005.

Williams taught mathematics at Benjamin Banneker Academic High School, his alma mater, in Washington, D.C. from 1988 to 1994. He then joined MCPS and held various positions in the county, including math resource teacher, assistant principal, executive assistant and middle school principal, until his appointment as principal at Gaithersburg High School.

The hunt for a new principal began soon after Phillip Gainous announced his departure May 8. Community superintendent Heath Morrison led the initial search for a replacement, narrowing down potential candidates from both within and outside of MCPS to three candidates, one of whom withdrew his name before the next phase of selection.

The two remaining candidates, Williams and Newport Mill Middle School principal Nelson McLeod, were then interviewed by a selection panel of parents, students, staff and community representatives. "[The panel] was an accurate representation of the Blair demographic," staff and panel member Cindy Villavicencio said.

The advisory panel asked the candidates a series of questions about their administrative philosophy and plans for Blair, according to PTSA co-president and panel member Dave Ottalini. Each member of the panel voted on his or her choice for principal and the panel as a whole then made the recommendation of Williams to Weast. Weast accepted the panel's recommendation and handed his decision to the BOE.

Ottalini was enthusiastic about the selection, and said he believed Williams would do a good job. "Mr. Gainous accomplished a lot for Blair, but there are still things that need to be done," he said. "Mr. Williams will help to fix them – he'll be great for Blair."

Williams was unavailable for comment.