Zimmerman finalist for Center superintendent

CENTER — Former Center Middle School Principal Carrie Zimmerman has been selected as the final candidate for superintendent of Center Schools, Center School Board spokesperson and director Lyn Bogle announced Tuesday.  
Bogle said Zimmerman has “already said her goodbyes” to her colleagues in Alamosa, where she served as assistant superintendent for Alamosa Schools. But it will take another month, he estimated, for Zimmerman to assume her duties at Center.
Zimmerman started as assistant high school principal and math/science teacher for the 2009-2010 school year. She later accepted a position as the school’s Middle School principal.
“I have very high expectations of her,” High School Principal Kevin Jones said at the time of her appointment as assistant principal. “She has great classroom skills and will be a good fit.”
Zimmerman taught for 15 years in Alamosa schools and also spent time as a college instructor teaching other teachers to teach. Jones also said in 2009 she had an “extensive” background in special education.
Zimmerman was with Center Schools for five years. In her 2014 letter of resignation she said the decision “was not easy to make” and she “truly enjoyed working for the district.” But she began considering her options, Zimmerman said, “with the changes in our district’s board membership,” referring to former school board director Phillip Varoz’s position on the board at that time as a “confrontational one.”

Background
In 2014, Varoz and fellow (former) board director James Sanchez brought Channel 7 News to the school to investigate disciplinary policy during the tenure of then Superintendent George Welsh. The push by Varoz and Sanchez for Welsh’s resignation over the disputed disciplinary practices, backed by other politicos in the town, resulted in a rousing show of support for Welsh by the teaching staff and community.
Welsh later accepted a position as Canon City superintendent, commenting privately that he was sick of dealing with politics in the town. Chris Vance succeeded him as superintendent, remarking during one initial interview that he hoped to work with the town and Center Head Start to “heal old wounds.”
Vance resigned earlier this month after he was placed on administrative leave pending an investigation of alleged misconduct with an employee at the school. His resignation terminated the ongoing investigation into the matter.