MOULTRIE, Ga. — The search is on for a new high school principal.

Colquitt County High Principal Stephanie Terrell announced her retirement in December, effective at the end of the school year.

Terrell, who has served 30 years in the Colquitt County School System, has been principal of CCHS for five years, Superintendent Doug Howell said this week.

“She’s done a great job of transitioning from the old high school to the new high school,” he said. The new school building on Darbyshire Road opened in 2015.

Due to the Christmas holiday, it was just a week ago that the school system posted the opening on two websites dedicated to job searches in education, Howell said.

Already “two or three” people have started the application process. The application involves several stages, he said, so no one has completed the process yet.

Howell said hiring a new principal will take a few weeks, possibly a couple of months or maybe longer. No time limit is being imposed.

“My job,” he said, “… is to find the most qualified person for the job. … Whoever we hire is going to be the best fit for Colquitt County.”

System staff and the school board will be looking at candidates’ experience level, level of teaching certification, references and other criteria, he said.