The Cluster six has still not come to a decision about the final principal for the next school year. Students are aware Principal Dan Meier will be retiring in early April and the school has been through quite a difficult process trying to find a new principal.

As of now, John Ponton, a retired and former Fairfax County Principal, will be the acting principal.

John Ponton will remain the principal up until a new one has been chosen. Before this year, Ponton was a principal at other schools, including Annandale High School, which has given him plenty of experience, including 31 years working with Fairfax County Public Schools.

“I want to become part of the culture and confidence of this school and I am really looking forward to the experience, “Ponton said.

Meier chose to leave in April so the next principal could pick up and make the decisions for the upcoming school year. This still could be seen as a conflict, considering Ponton will not permanently be here for the next school year. He will still have a say in school decisions until the end of the year.

The three people who were lined up to be the new principal were not considered fit for the job, and now the process to find one has completely changed. When on the process of finding a new principal, there are four constituents, or groups (example would be parents). All constituents had to agree on one person for the job to be filled. The position has yet to be filled because no one was able to have broad support on one person.

The board will be advertising the job again in May where they will look through more people to fill the position.

When the school found out Meier was retiring, an ad went out advertising his job. The advertisement takes about a month to get out to the public. Then, the Cluster six has to sort through all of the people who applied and make a final decision. This process can take a lot of time.

They are looking to hopefully have the position filled by the end of the year.