Less than a year after opening, McCormick Middle School will now have its second principal.

Late last month, Hays CISD board trustees approved the hiring of James Cruz as the school’s next principal.

Cruz, who is the current principal at Del Valle Middle School, takes over for Thad Gittens, who left at the end of the school year. Gittens was hired in 2015 as the school’s inaugural principal and helped open the new campus in 2016.

According to a Hays CISD statement, Cruz has a 14-year...