Daryl Barnes says so long, to the education business

Former football coach at Southern Guilford, Northeast Guilford and multi 4-A State Football Champions coach of the Richmond County Raiders, Daryl Barnes, has had enough and says it’s time to retire…..

from www.hpe.com:

RANDOLPH COUNTY – Not even two months since the new Wheatmore High opened for students, the school’s principal, Daryl Barnes, has decided to retire immediately after more than 30 years in education.

Barnes, the 2008 Wachovia Principal of the Year for Randolph County Schools, made the announcement Monday to Wheatmore High faculty members. The Randolph County School’s Administration Office also received notification of the retirement just after the office closed at 5 p.m., said Dremia Meier, the system’s community relations director.

“I’m going right at 34 years in public education,” Barnes said. “There comes a time when it’s time. I just felt we had gotten the school up and running. It was running very efficiently and effectively. I had some pending situations where I’m due to be the president of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association (Board of Directors)… It just came down to financially there comes a time when once you reach X number of years in the business, you really start working for almost free.”

The retirement of Barnes, the vice president of the NCHSAA Board, allows the athletic association to have appropriate time to find a new president because the board’s guidelines state that retired school personnel can no longer serve on the board.

Barnes, a member of the NCHSAA Hall of Fame, was the North Carolina High School Football Coach of the Year in 1997 and 1998. As coach of Richmond Senior High School, he lead the powerhouse football school to five state championships.

Barnes, who graduated from Trinity High in 1973, was formally principal of his alma mater, leaving that post to become principal of Wheatmore High. Trinity High had much success under his leadership, making high growth on the North Carolina ABCs four times in his last five years as the school’s principal.

Meier said the system has yet to name an interim principal, with the notification of Barnes’ retirement coming just as the administration office was closing. She said the Randolph County Board of Education and administrators will begin working on filling the position immediately.

“The school will continue with every day operations with the assistance of the central office staff and the assistant principals,” Meier said. “On behalf of the school system, we wish (Barnes) the very best in the future.”