A.C. Jones High School Principal Joe Reyes has been reassigned to the central office and the director of the Academy at Madderra, DeeDee Bernal, is now overseeing secondary services.

Reyes, who has been named the director of school services, has been temporarily replaced by Assistant Principal Jaime Rodriguez, who will serve until a new high school principal is hired.

Former Thomas Jefferson Intermediate School Principal Al Alvarado will replace Bernal as director of the Academy of Madderra, which provides specialized instruction to students in grades 9-11.

The Academy at Madderra used to be called the Learning Resource Center, a campus for students who for some reason could not attend traditional high school at A.C. Jones.

The school district renamed the campus this summer after it was moved from downtown Beeville to the former Madderra Elementary School campus.

The reassignments were scheduled as part of the school district’s master plan, and are not to be misconstrued as punishment on any administrator’s part, said Beeville ISD Superintendent Dr. John Hardwick Jr.

“The reorganization of the secondary administration does not include all of the secondary administration but it does include a significant number of them and was called for in the school district’s master plan,” Hardwick said. “The master plan called for us to look at ways to become more effective and more efficient. One of those ways was to reduce facilities, which we have done. But when you reduce facilities you also reduce personnel.”

Reassigning some of the administrative personnel at the high school will allow the school district to take advantage of each administrator’s unique talents, he explained.

“DeeDee has done an excellent job at the Academy at Madderra and we hope to take advantage of her experience as director of secondary services,” Hardwick said.

By tapping into each administrator’s unique skills, the school district hopes to achieve its “Intent on 10 Percent” theme.

The Intent on 10 Percent concept calls on the school district to improve in all areas by 10 percent this school year and hopefully boost the school district’s accountability ratings, Hardwick said.

He said the theme requires all personnel to improve by 10 percent this year, from custodians to superintendent.

Hardwick said he notified all of the administrators of the reassignments on Friday.

He said he met with faculty and staff at A.C. Jones and Madderra on Monday morning to inform them of the reorganization in order to head off any speculation that one or more of the administrators was being demoted or punished for one reason or another.

“It’s like drowning and drinking Kool-Aid,” he explained. “People drink a lot of Kool-Aid in the summer because it’s hot, and a lot of people drown in the summer because that’s when they go swimming, but there’s no link. There’s no cause and effect.”

Hardwick said the school district will begin searching for a new principal for A.C. Jones sometime after Christmas.