MASON - A regional Sylvan Learning Center vice president will guide the staff at William Mason High School as it prepares to move to a new home on the other side of the football field.

        Bob Carter was hired Tuesday as the new principal at Mason High School, a job he will begin this week. He replaces Gerald Cox, who left after a short, controversial stay.

        Mr. Carter, selected from a field of 35 candidates, was given a 26-month contract and will earn $92,500 annually. That's the same salary the board had paid Mr. Cox, who in March signed a separation agreement that put him on paid administrative leave — after only four months on the job — until his July 31 resignation.

        “He's (Mr. Carter) at a point in his career that he's choosing to be a high school principal because that's what he wants to do and that comes through,” said Marianne Culbertson, president of the Mason Board of Education. “His passion for education was evident and he brings a wealth of experience to the job.”

        For the past five years, Mr. Cox of Loveland has worked at Sylvan. From 1978 to 1997, he worked as a superintendent in three California and one Maryland school districts. Prior to that, he spent 16 years in California schools working as a teacher, assistant principal and principal at junior and senior high schools.

        Initially, Mr. Carter's focus will be on the upcoming move to the new high school, Mrs. Culbertson said.

        Twenty-six months ago, voters approved a $71.9 million bond issue to build a high school and community recreation center on a 73-acre track along Mason-Montgomery Road, between Main Street and the existing high school. The 379,000-square-foot high school, auditorium and field house will open in September with the rest of the recreation center set to open this winter.

        “Bob Carter brings a tremendous level of experience, maturity and expertise to this position,” said Superintendent Kevin Bright.

        Mr. Carter, 64, received his bachelor's degree from the University of Denver in 1960 and was drafted that year by the San Francisco 49ers. He began his teaching career in 1962. He has a master's degree from Chapman College and a doctoral from Florida's Nova Southeastern University.

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