Jerry Mayes accepted a formal offer for the principal’s job at Manual from Superintendent Dr. Donna Hargens after being selected by the SBDM Council.

“The decision was made based on his extensive experience, strong references, evidence of effectiveness at his current position, and his clear passion for moving Manual forward,” according to the Principal Recommendation Committee’s address to SBDM.

Mayes is a former Manual science teacher and is currently an assistant principal at Pleasure Ridge Park High School.

“It will be interesting to see how it goes with Mr. Mayes as our new principal. I think he has the best interest of the whole Manual community,” student Farren Vaughan said. “He subtly implied at the Q&A session that J&C students need to prove their trustworthiness in regard to how he’ll handle censorship of the student press. And that concerns me a little. But I’m still hopeful.”

“Considering he once taught at Manual, he should be able to know and structure everything pretty well,” Kevin Puaphan said.

“Although I was leaning more towards Bordeaux, I think Mayes has great references and experience. I think it will help that he has a background deeply connected to Manual. Overall, it will be a change but we can only hope for the best in this decision,” Abby Fischbach said.