ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
The students of Liberal High School will have a new face to greet them on the first day of school in a couple weeks.
Darla Forney will be the new LHS principal, taking over for Ashley Kappelmann, who will be the USD 480 Director of Recruitment and Education.
As Forney tells it, she is certainly no stranger to the education field.
“I've been in the education field for 24 years, and 19 years of that have been spent at a small school in White Deer, Texas. I started with the White Deer ISD and then went to another school a little farther south and also coached there for a short time,” Forney said. “During that time, I discovered I wanted to get back to White Deer – I wasn't raised there, but I loved the people there and I loved the job, so it took me a couple more years to get back there since there weren't any job openings. I got back to White Deer and have been there ever since. I've been a coach and teacher, and I got my master's degree in education leadership in 2010 so I could become a principal, and that's the capacity I've served in ever since. I retired in July 2024, but I realized I'm not ready for retirement, so I went back to work for White Deer and served as the assistant superintendent as well as the high school principal again after my successor left in December.”
Her interest in education, however, was sparked far earlier than that, Forney said.
“I love school, and even went back to get by superintendency two years ago. We're all lifelong learners, and I loved school back when I was in school as a student. I've always loved that atmosphere, and I've always loved athletics,” Forney said. “My husband came to me one day – I didn't really have a plan of what I wanted to do at that time – and he said 'You should finish school and do something in case something happens to me and you need to take care of the kids.' After some thought, I decided I wanted to teach and coach. It's all progressed from there, and it's been my calling since I love being around children. I feel like if any student can have someone in their lives who cares about them, that's one more person who can help.”
Eventually, that led to Forney moving to the administrative side of education, albeit with some hesitation.
“It wasn't really ever in my plan to go into administration since I love being in the classroom – in fact, I loved being in the classroom more than I loved coaching. I had been asked on multiple occasions about taking on leadership roles, but it just wasn't something I was really that interested in,” Forney said. “I had a coaching buddy who said 'Let's do our principal certifications' and again, I didn't really want to, but I did, and it turned out to be a good idea for me. When the opportunity came up there in White Deer, I had a good foundation and ultimately took the position. I also hadn't really had the desire to become a superintendent, but we had a superintendent at the time who was new, and I thought 'I'll just go through the classes so I can help him if I need to,' which also ended up being a good idea for me.”
Forney added she had heard about the LHS opening from a somewhat unexpected source.
“I've known Dane [Richardson] for a while, he was one of the superintendents I worked with some years ago, and I followed him around a bit and we stayed in contact,” Forney said. “When he moved to Forsan, he called and asked if I would be interested in a position there, but I was happy where I was and told him 'No thanks, but keep me in mind!' Then he got to Liberal and oversaw some changes and called me and asked what I thought about taking the LHS principal position and offered me a chance to visit and meet with a bunch of people. And now is actually a good time for me because White Deer recently hired a new high school principal who I know will just absolutely rock at it, and I wanted her to have the spotlight, so to speak, and let her do her own thing. It's been an absolute blessing and I'm just tickled pink. The school board voted on that not too long ago, and I was sitting at home waiting to hear from Dane about how things were, and when I got the call, I was ecstatic. I'm ready for the change and opportunity, and I'm really excited. I know I've got big shoes to fill, and it's wonderful knowing Ashley [Kappelmann] will be on hand to help if I need it, and she's been amazing. The rest of the team is also awesome, and I don't think I could've come to a better place.”
At the moment, Forney said, she is concentrating on learning more about the school and the community.
“I haven't been able to get started on very much quite yet since everything is still so new, but I've been in a lot of meetings already and have been working on getting a feel for the district and the new teachers coming in and what the expectations are,” Forney said. “I've also met with other administrators and a bunch of other people, and right now is definitely a time for a lot of learning so I can get my feet wet and get to know the town. And since Kansas and Texas are different, I also need to learn what the graduation requirements are and all of that as well as the curriculum and the Career and Technical Education (CTE) stuff. The school building is absolutely beautiful, as is the rest of the town, and I've been very impressed with that. I've also been impressed with my admin team and everything they know – I can't see anyone better fitting in those positions, so I think we'll all work really well together, which is really important. Everyone has been so kind and warm and open, so it's been great meeting everyone and getting into the groove of how everything works. I feel very blessed to be able to come here.”
Forney said she is very excited to get started on her first year at LHS.
“I'm definitely excited about all the sports, I'm a big athletics fan, and I hear LHS also has a great band program, so I'm also excited to hear them,” Forney said. “I'm also excited to see the new CTE programs implemented, and I can't wait to meet the teachers and learn more about the curriculum, and I'm ready to dive into that. I'm ready to jump in with both feet and get involved with the community and find a church home and just get to know Liberal. Being part of the community is really important to me, so I can't wait to attend the big events and see what all is in town. I can't wait to get involved and be seen and just be part of everything. And I know I won't be the only new USD 480 employee on that first day of school, I know there are several other new employees just like me coming in, so I'm excited to meet all of them. I want everyone to know I will be here for them if they have any questions or anything, and I have an open door policy for everyone. I definitely want to be a servant leader, that's my leadership style because I want to do all I can to make sure the staff and students are being taken care of and have their needs met at school.”
Forney also offered encouragement for parents and others in the community to get in touch with her with any comments and concerns.
“I'm always available, and if any parent has any questions, they are more than welcome to call me at the high school or send me an email, and I will do what I can to help. I'm open to anyone and everyone, and I want to be there,” Forney said. “I want to thank USD 480 for giving me this opportunity. I'm excited, I'm ready to jump in, and I'm so blessed with the relationships I've already been able to build here. I'm thankful for the opportunity, and I will do my best to not let anyone down.”
