CHS principal Mark Moring leaving Clinton

Clinton High School Principal Mark Moring announced this week that he’ll be leaving Clinton soon, after accepting a position as superintendent of Davis Public Schools. 
He was formally offered the job late Tuesday evening in a phone call to his home, he said, and immediately called Superintendent Kevin Hime to let him know of his decision.
“We’re definitely not leaving with any bitter feelings at all, because Clinton is a fantastic town and a fantastic school district,” Moring said. “It’s all our kids have known and they’ve made some really good friends here, so it’s tough on them right now. Many tears have been shed in the Moring household.”
His daughter will be entering the sixth grade next year and his son the third grade. He and his wife, Catey Moring, who works as a counselor at the high school, moved to Clinton in 2012 from the Purcell area. 
Moring said he’s been certified to act as a superintendent since 2004, and he’s had other opportunities to leave Clinton before now. He didn’t consider those other opportunities to be a good fit for his children, but he sees the move to Davis as a positive one in many ways. 
“Davis actually reminds me a lot of Clinton, in the fact that it’s a very supportive community and their school board is a lot like our school board. They’re very proactive, and they want to do new things and explore new ways to emphasize learning with their students.
“We’ll also be about 40 minutes away from my parents, who live in Purcell.”
The town of Davis recently passed a school bond issue with a yes vote of 93 percent. A new high school building is currently under construction, and the town will also be building an elementary school library media center and a brand new track. 
The schools there also recently received a $200,000 grant to begin a one-to-one technology initiative in the district.
“There’s a lot of good things going on there that remind me of the awesome things going on in Clinton, so I’d like to take my knowledge of what we do here and mesh it with the great things they’re doing in Davis,” Moring said.
He believes his experience as an educator in this district gave him an edge over the 40 other candidates who applied for the superintendent’s position. 
“I believe I had the upper hand over the other candidates because of how progressive we are here, such as the technology we use and the Strategic Plan we have in place. 
“If people from Clinton get out and about and look at other schools around the state they’d really realize how many awesome things we’ve got going on here. I think that’s partly what set me apart from all the other candidates.”
He said there are approximately 1,000 students in the Davis school district, a little less than half the students here. Most people taking their first position as a school superintendent start out in much smaller districts, he said. 
Moring’s official start date in Davis will be July 1. But he intends to make himself available to help his replacement in any way he can, he said, to help during the transition here next year. 
Superintendent Hime said the district will post the position of CHS principal and begin taking applications, and as always the district will do its best to get the highest caliber of person it can to replace Moring. 
“You like stability, but I’ve always said I’d rather hire the best for a few years than get someone average who would stay 10 years,” said Hime. “You hate to lose great leaders, but I’m happy for Mark. 
“He’s basically the fourth person we’ve lost since I’ve been here to higher level leadership positions. Three superintendents now, and Tyler Bridges is a director at the K-20 Center in Norman. It speaks well of our leadership team that as a collective group we’re developing that caliber of leaders.”
“It would take another great town and a great opportunity for me to even think about leaving Clinton,” said Moring. “The time was just right to do it.