Grandview High School has a new principal – Allen Davis, who has been an educator and coach in Jefferson County for more than 40 years.
The Grandview R-2 Board of Education voted 7-0 on April 16 to name Davis the high school principal for the 2024-2025 school year.
Davis, 68, of De Soto, is no stranger to the district.
After working about 30 years for the De Soto School District, he has been with the Grandview School District since 2010, holding a variety of jobs there – high school principal, middle school principal, curriculum director and most recently special projects coordinator.
He worked part-time as the special project coordinator during the 2023-2024 school year and was paid $43,392 in that job. As the high school principal, he will be paid $101,123.
Davis said he will also continue in his role as the special projects coordinator, overseeing the district’s bond projects, which should be wrapped up in the next two years. District voters approved a $7.2 million bond issue in 2023 to fund safety and infrastructure improvements.
Last school year, Cody Mothersbaugh was principal for both the middle school and the high school, but district officials decided to divide those duties and promoted Davis to the high school principal job and kept Mothersbaugh as the middle school principal.
Mothersbaugh was paid $95,450 last school year as principal of both schools and will earn about $91,872 as the middle school principal this school year, said Matt Zoph, the Grandview R-2 superintendent.
“We felt it would be a bigger impact for each building to have one full-time principal in order to serve the kids and the parents best,” said Jason Van Houten, the district’s communications director and media specialist.
Hiring process
About 20 people applied for the Grandview High principal position, and five candidates were interviewed, district officials reported.
Davis said he did not have to interview for the job because he was promoted from within the district after high school students and staff asked him to take over the role.
Zoph said Davis’ experience made him a logical choice for the job.
“The district needed a veteran in this role who could bring stability to the high school,” Zoph said. “He knows the nuances of the district and knows what the community expects.”
Davis said he plans to work for two years as the high school principal and mentor Sean Breeze, the newly hired Grandview High athletic director and assistant principal, to take over the position.
Breeze was hired in May and will be paid an $80,284 annual salary.
“I’m hoping I can help kids’ lives in a way they can be successful in the future. That’s every educator’s job, to help prepare them for life,” Davis said.
The Grandview district, which also has an elementary school, enrolls about 650 students in kindergarten through grade 12.
Davis said he enjoys the working environment at Grandview.
“It’s just like coaching; when you have a good team, your job is easy,” Davis said.
Before joining Grandview, Davis worked at De Soto High School from 1979-2010.
He said Zoph, who was one of his previous students, asked him to come help at Grandview. Davis said he had retired from De Soto, was bored and needed something to do with his time and agreed to take Zoph up on his offer.
While at De Soto, Davis worked as an industrial arts teacher, in-school suspension teacher and athletic/activities director. He also coached boys varsity basketball for more than 30 years and had more than 600 wins and was named to the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.
Davis has a master’s degree in sports administration from the United States Sports Academy and a master’s degree in administration from the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
He and his wife, Julie, have owned and operated a Charolais cattle farm since 1986. They have two adult children and six grandchildren.