Banks County Schools is pleased to announce that Chuck Butler has been named the next Principal of Banks County Middle School (BCMS). Butler succeeds Dr. Kaila Steele, who has been named Chief Learning and Development Officer at Mountain Education High School.
Butler will assume the position for the 2026-2027 school year.
Butler has served as Assistant Principal at BCMS for the past seven years. He has also been the head varsity boys' basketball coach at Banks County High School for the past two seasons.
“I’m excited to serve as Principal at BCMS,” Butler said. “The school means a lot to me, and I look forward to building on our work with staff and students.”
BCMS has seen strong academic and extracurricular success recently, and Butler is committed to building on this momentum and continuous improvement.
“We have been so proud of the academic and extracurricular success that our school has had the past few years,” Butler said. “Our school has a very good culture in place. We want to continue the work that has been going on, while always striving to improve and push ourselves to be even better.”
Butler shared that his leadership philosophy centers on success and supporting students and staff to reach their potential.
“My philosophy is to strive for success,” Butler said. “I’m inspired by John Wooden’s view: success is doing your best to be your best. That’s my goal for myself and BCMS.”
He said the school will set clear goals and stay focused on the student experience.
“As we dive in, we will set some more clearly defined goals for our future. We want to make sure we provide our students with the best school experience possible,” Butler said. “We love the kids we get to serve here at the middle school. I can’t wait to see their future successes as well as the success of BCMS.”
As he prepares for the 2026-2027 principal role, Butler is working with staff and district leaders to ensure a smooth handover. During this time, he will step away from coaching varsity basketball to focus fully on school leadership.
“Unfortunately, I will not be serving as the Varsity Boys Basketball Coach next season,” Butler said. “I have thoroughly enjoyed my time as the head coach, but I will need to step away to focus on the task of leading Banks County Middle School. I will miss coaching those guys so much. Banks County Basketball has such a bright future, and I can’t wait to cheer them on for years to come. It was a pleasure to work with those student-athletes and represent Banks County on the basketball court for the last two seasons.”
Banks County Schools thanks Dr. Steele for her leadership and service to BCMS and wishes her continued success at Mountain Education High School.