The historic appointment of a first superhead of the Borders’ four Roman Catholic schools has been made, writes Kenny Paterson.
Karen Gray takes up the £52,290 post in August, having been acting head of both St Margaret’s schools, in Galashiels and Hawick, and at St Joseph’s in Selkirk, since April.
Mrs Gray took over temporarily after Scottish Borders Council’s attempts to attract a suitable candidate earlier in the year drew a blank.
But now she will take charge permanently of all four schools, the fourth being Halyrude in Peebles where Kate Brown is currently head.
Yvonne McCracken, SBC’s head of schools services said: “We are delighted to have appointed Karen Gray, currently senior education officer at Council HQ, as the new headteacher of the four Roman Catholic schools.
“She has been headteacher of St Margaret’s and St Joseph’s in the past and has been working across three of the four schools over the last five months.”
Robert Fairburn, chairman of St Margaret’s Parent Council (Galashiels), admitted it has been a struggle for the council to find a suitable candidate for the post, describing the search as “very complex and time-consuming”.
“But we have finally reached the end of that journey and I am delighted with the appointment of Mrs Gray which will at last provide the stability the parents have been calling for,” he said.
“Mrs Gray has been leading St Margaret’s on a temporary basis since Easter, so we will be hitting the ground running when she officially takes over after the summer.”