VIDALIA &8212; Assistant Principal Whest Shirley will move up to fill the principal slot at Vidalia Junior High School.

The Concordia Parish School Board approved naming Shirley principal Tuesday night. He will fill the job vacated by Paul Nelson, who was recently promoted to director of academic affairs for the district.

Christine Washington will become the school&8217;s administrative assistant. Washington has been working as an administrative trainee at VJHS.

The board also approved a one-year sabbatical leave for Ferriday Lower Elementary School Principal Loretta Blankenstein.

The leave for further educational study will begin in January.

&8220;I think we are all against it,&8221; Superintendent Kerry Laster said. &8220;But I think Mrs. Blankenstein has certainly earned that privilege.&8221;

The school&8217;s Assistant Principal Sheila Alwood will serve as interim principal.

In other business, the board approved a request from Vidalia High School Principal Rick Brown to place a plaque in the school honoring Kenneth Hathaway, a longtime teacher who died earlier this year.