Park City High School Principal Hilary Hays asked for some time off after her contract, which ends July 31, was not renewed. Hays has served as the school’s principal for six years, and has worked in the Park City School District for 14 years.
According to Park City School District Superintendent Ray Timothy, not renewing Hays’ contract was a tough decision.
“Hilary Hays brings a lot of things to the job. She is really passionate about education excellence and she cares about kids. She has a lot of strengths,” Timothy said, adding that he conducted her administrator evaluation earlier this year and identified a few things for Hays to work on.
“I met with her last week and I felt like there was a change needed in Park City (High School) leadership,” he said, adding that at that time Hays requested some time off, but he hopes she will return to school before the end of the school year.
“I would hope that she would be back. I know that people would love to recognize her for a lot of accomplishments at Park City High School,” he said.
On hearing the news about their principal Thursday afternoon, Park City High School Junior Brooke Runkle, said that she had developed a good relationship with Hays over the last three years at the high school.
“I was sad because I really liked her. I heard that her contract wasn’t renewed and so I assumed that meant she was asked to leave nicely,” Runkle said.
Timothy said he hopes to fill the position internally, and plans to notify the school board of his decision on administration changes sometime in June.