Last week the Russellville City Schools Board of Education cast an important vote that will undoubtedly shape the future of education in Russellville: choosing the next individual to lead the system as superintendent.

The school board hired previous employee Dr. Tim Guinn as the next RCS superintendent, and we want to join the chorus of voices welcoming him back to Russellville.

Guinn worked for RCS previously; he was assistant principal and principal at the high school before serving as assistant superintendent for six years, until January 2022, when he left to become superintendent of Satsuma City Schools. Now he’s coming back to the land of Golden Tigers.

When a school system changes leadership, it’s often a transition period fraught with uncomfortable growing pains. A new person is learning the history and challenges of an established program, learning for the first time about its strengths and weaknesses, its goals, its accomplishments, its traditions. It takes time for a new hand to ingratiate himself to a team of teachers and administrators. Operations can be rocky while a new superintendent finds his footing, meets his principals, learns the community and tries to figure out how he can bring his own ethos to the table.

Russellville should be able to avoid a lot of that upheaval by hiring someone who already knows the community and the school system well.

Dr. Heath Grimes has done excellent work in Russellville over the past nine years, and his departure could have marked a dip in the tradition of excellence RCS has come to expect. A new hire in the super’s chair could, in a less-than-best case scenario, bring any number of chaotic situations to the system.

We applaud the school board for making a hire that should, in fact, eliminate a lot of those potential negative repercussions at Grimes’ departure.

Guinn was born in Russellville, and he graduated from Vina High School. He’s a local man, and that means he can hit the ground running when he returns to the community as the RCS superintendent later this year, with little time lost in orienting himself in his new role.

We’re not suggesting there will be zero challenges or hiccups – it still will be a transition period, after all, and no one expects it to be 100% seamless – but having someone come in who already knows the system should be a huge benefit for all Russellville City Schools employees, students and stakeholders.

Welcome home Dr. Guinn. We’re excited for you to get started.