Ricardo Tarango, better known in Hennessey as Richie Tarango, was hired as Hennessey’s Binkley Middle School principal, and he’s anxious to work in his hometown.

He and his wife, Jessica, have most recently been kept busy with their nine-week-old daughter. So have the couple’s parents, Jose and Manuela Gomez of Kingfisher, and Ricardo and Maria Tarango of Hennessey.

Richie Tarango was hired at Monday night’s Hennessey Board of Education meeting, and both he and his wife attended.

Superintendent Dr. Mike Woods told the board he’d like to take credit for hiring Tarango, but said that Jason Sternberger, who takes over as superintendent July 1, gets that honor.

The Tarangos live in Enid, and Jessica Tarango said she hopes they find a home in Hennessey because she goes back to work this week as a pharmacist in Hennessey.

Tarango reads and speaks fluent Spanish, in addition to English. In one newspaper account about his time in the U.S. Marines, Tarango said he learned to speak English by watching cartoons because both of his parents only spoke Spanish at home back then.

He will replace Angela Avila, who has been principal at both the middle and high school for the past three years, but this year there will be a principal in each of those buildings. Avila resigned to be the high school principal at Chisholm this fall.

Tarango Is HHS grad

A 2007 HHS graduate,Tarango, will be the third Eagle this year to serve as a principal in Hennessey. Barry Crosswhite (elementary) graduated in 1987, and Stacey Mack (early childhood center) in 1988.

Tarango attended Hennessey schools for 12 years, and was a standout baseball player at pitcher and second base high school, and played football during his high school career.

He played with the Enid Champions baseball team for a year before he attended NOC, Enid, for two years. He then served in the U.S. Marine Corps and Reserves, 2009-15, and served in Afghanistan before being honorably discharged as an E-5 Sergeant.

Tarango graduated from UCO, Edmond, in 2014 with a BS in education and physical education, and was president of the UC Physical Education Majors Club, 2013-14. He graduated with a Masters in educational leadership from East Central University, Ada, in the summer of 2018, and became a certified principal.

He has been the principal at Enid’s Garfield Elementary School since 2019, and taught high school Spanish in Enid, 2018-19, and junior varsity head baseball coach there, 2014-19. His other work in Enid was at Waller Middle School as a physical education teacher, 2017-18 and assistant football coach, 2016-18, and at Coolidge Elementary as physical education teacher, 2014-17.

He is a member of the National Association of Elementary Principals.

Attending the Meeting

All board members were present at the April 12 meeting: James Matthew Matousek (whose term on the board expired last month but was chosen by the board after a closed session that night to take the seat vacated last month by Joe Garrison due to ill health); Luke Lough, Patrick Griffin, Cristopher Choate and David Tillman. Both Matousek and Tillman (newly-elected board member in December who took office this month) read their oath of office declarations. Then Matousek, who was not included in the executive session to appoint him, was re-elected president; Lough was re-elected vice president, and Griffin was appointed clerk.

Also attending was Tillman’s wife, Tiffany, and her mother, Sharon Pollard.

Staff in attendance other than those mentioned above are Paul Hix, athletic director and HS head football coach; Todd Cameron, computer network administrator, Matt Means, MS counselor; Raeanna Fuksa, MS math teacher; Allison Hurst, MS special education teacher; Amy Sheltie, MS ELL teacher; Beth Curran, HS art, photo and yearbook teacher; Jack Quirk, photographer, and Timberly Jech, office manager and board minutes clerk.

There were also six parents in the audience, and Hix’s wife.

Superintendent’s Report

Woods told the board that overall they are still down $1.8 million even with CARES money even though the gross production was up a little this month, but lower than a year ago.

He said the April return to the school was $255,000 last year and $222,000 this year.

The written report shows that this fiscal year’s GP is down $1.3 million compared to the 2019-20 revenue.

This year’s GP to school so far s $1.124 million and last year’s to date was $2.452 million.

The superintendent also reported that teachers Debbie Hladik and Patti Jones opted to take advantage of the school’s early retirement program.

Hladik is a high school special ed teacher, and Jones a remediation teacher in the elementary school.

Woods said structure damages to the school from the broken pipes due to the weather was estimated at $135,000 for both the high and elementary schools, but most of the cost is for high school damages.

He said the insurance people “are still working on the estimates for the content” … “but they aren’t including technology.”

Elementary Changes

The board also voted to change Hennessey’s Lower Elementary from Pre-K through 5th Grades to Pre-K through 4th Grades and Hennessey’s Upper Elementary from 6th through 8th grades to 5th through 8th grades for the coming school year.

Teachers Rehired

After a second executive session, this time to rehire teachers, the board voted to rehire the following certified staff for the 2021-22: Emily Bellinger, Taylor Black, Cheyenne Baxter, Patrick Courtney, Kayla Grellner, Paul Hix, Brady Johnson, Jenna Matousek, Chelsey McArthur, Ragen Newman, Nathaniel Parker, Heather Russell, Randi Simpson, Amy Sheltie and Stacy Ward.

They also rehired these teachers on temporary contracts: Maribeth Boettler, Lezlie Hardin, Amanda Luper and Doreen Winn.