PORT NECHES — A former leader at Port Neches-Groves Independent School District is on tap to once again head the district, at least temporarily.

In a 7-0 vote on Thursday, trustees with the district approved extending an interim contract to Jimmy Creel contigent upon negotiating the terms of that contract which will be voted on at the June 12 board meeting, board president Darren McCutcheon said.

“We’re very excited to extend the interim contract to Dr. Creel,” McCutcheon said. “I think he will be beneficial to PN-GISD. He was beneficial when he was here (before). He was superintendent when we passed a bond, has extensive knowledge in Chapter 41 or recapture and his networking abilities at the state level are phenomenal. He has been successful at doing this before with other school district and we are confident he will do as well here.”

Creel led PN-GISD as superintendent in 1999 through 2004 before moving on to another district. He retired from College Station ISD in 2006 but didn’t stay retired. He served Jasper ISD twice as interim superintendent and once at Burkeville ISD. He looks forward to coming back to Port Neches-Groves.

“PN-GISD was good to me and good to my family and was always a place that we all just loved,” Creel said. “It’s a strong district and if there is an opportunity for me to help and I can then I feel compelled to do so and will help in any way I can.”

Creel said he is looking forward to the opportunity to be back at PN-GISD. He has spent some time teaching at Lamar University and will likely run into some of his former students that are now working for the district.

Trustees were looking for an interim with three specific skill sets; past superintendent experience, experience in Chapter 41 or recapture and experience in either passing of a bond or implementing a bond once it has passed. Two candidates applied for the interim position.

Now, one of Creel’s tasks will be helping find a permanent superintendent. Trustees haven’t laid out any specifics on this but believe Creel’s networking abilities will be a plus if they should choose to look outside the district.

“Serving as interim if a little it different of an animal then serving as superintendent,” Creel said. “I want to come and help the staff and begin to build a bridge toward the next administration that the board will eventually accept.”