CENTRAL HIGH GETS NEW PRINCIPAL

Oak Ridge, Mo., native Michael Cowan, who once was turned down for a teaching job at Cape Girardeau Central High School, will serve as the school's new principal.

The Cape Girardeau Board of Education voted 4-1 Monday to hire Cowan, who currently is principal of Valley Park High School in suburban St. Louis. He will replace Randie Fidler, whose contract wasn't renewed by the school board in February. Cowan didn't attend the meeting.

School board member David Goncher cast the lone dissenting vote. Two board members were absent. One of them, the Rev. William Bird, arrived immediately after the vote.

Goncher said Fidler should have been rehired. "We had a good principal. We had the best," he said.

The board's decision to replace Fidler sparked controversy. Members refused to reconsider their decision despite strong urging from some teachers, students and community members at a board meeting last month.

Cowan, 47, will begin his new duties on July 1 at a salary of $72,956, which includes $4,000 to coordinate the district's A+ program. The state-mandated program is designed to raise academic standards and reduce the dropout rate.

Cape Girardeau Board of Education President Dr. Ferrell Ervin said he hopes the community will support the new principal, who was one of 15 applicants for the job.

Ervin said Cowan is an outgoing person, the type needed as the school district looks to open a new high school next year.

"When you meet him, you would be convinced he could take on Goliath," Ervin said.

Reached at Valley Park High School, Cowan said he is looking forward to returning to Cape Girardeau County. His mother, Betty Cowan, still lives in Oak Ridge. His brother, Kevin, lives north of Oak Ridge.

"It has taken me 26 years to get home," said Cowan, who failed to land a teaching job at Cape Girardeau Central High School in 1975.

Cowan graduated from Oak Ridge High School in 1971. He received his master's degree in English from Southeast Missouri State University in 1983.

He began his teaching career in 1975 as an English teacher at David H. Hickman High School in Columbia, Mo.

He worked as an administrative assistant to the high school principal at Clayton High School from 1987 to 1993.

Cowan has worked in both large and small schools. In his current job, he runs a high school with 260 students. Cape Girardeau Central, by comparison, has about 1,000 students.

Cowan has experience with building projects. As principal at Valley Park, he oversaw the remodeling of the high school. "We gutted it and basically started over."

Cowan, who is single, writes poetry in his spare time and is a member of the American Poetry Society. He said he favors symphonies over professional football games and likes gardening.

In his professional life, Cowan has some no-nonsense thoughts when it comes to education.

Cowan led the effort to restructure the Valley Park schools to establish a middle school, grades 6-8; and a high school, grades 9-12. Previously, he served as principal of a Valley Park secondary school that included grades 7-12.

He also helped restructure the school year, replacing the two-semester system with 60-day trimesters. Students attend four classes each day. Two of the classes last just over two hours apiece while the other two each last 50 minutes.

The move has led to less lecturing and more hands-on learning. It has helped boost ACT scores and improved school discipline, Cowan said.

"Our kids spend far more time in class learning than they do in the hallway socializing," he said.