Robby James to fill Marengo Academy headmaster post

 

Robby and June James
Robby and June James

The Marengo Academy Board of Directors voted Wednesday night to install former headmaster Robby James as interim headmaster for the remainder of the academic year. One week after the abrupt departure of the briefly-tenured headmaster and football coach David Barham, James left his Catherine home and made the familiar drive to the south side of Linden to begin filling in as interim headmaster.

“I just called Kevin (Dixon) and said, ‘Look, I don’t know what y’all are doing. I don’t know if you’ve got a headmaster, but I would come back and help you if you need me,’” James said. “I just told them that I would consider working if they’d have me. It was my decision really to call the board and see if I could help to give them a year to really find somebody.”

James retired from the school following the 2014-2015 academic year. What followed was a series of changes that left the school’s faithful supporters with numerous questions.

“I love the school and I just didn’t want them having bad publicity like it was falling apart or something and that’s not the case. We’ve got a good faculty,” James said.

Despite his status with 299 wins, James indicated he has no intention of running the school’s football program but will remain as headmaster until the conclusion of the current academic year pending a vote of the board of directors.

“I hope I can provide (leadership) for them and be here to encourage the kids,” James said.