Marty Chambers is the new Danville High School principal after he was approved by the MCBOE Thursday evening. | Clif Knight

The Morgan County School Board voted unanimously to hire Marty Chambers as principal at Danville High School at a regular board meeting Thursday night.

Chambers, who assumed the position Friday, had served as principal at West Morgan Middle School for less than a year. He replaces Pat Smith, who resigned in July after accepting an assistant principal’s position at Hartselle High School.

Chambers will be paid $92,455 annually.

“Marty has worked his way up the ladder from custodian to teacher to assistant principal and now a high school principal,” said Superintendent Bill Hopkins Jr. “He demonstrated he was the best candidate in the interview. We’re fortunate to have people in our system who have been trained up and are ready to assume administrative leadership positions when they become available.”

“He’s one of my students,” said Billy Rhodes, a former West Morgan teacher who is now representing the West Morgan district on the board.  “Marty is a hard worker. He’ll give his best effort in all he does.”

“I look forward to working with Mr. Chambers,” said Carolyn Wallace, who represents the Danville area on the board. “I’m confident he’ll do a good job for Danville High School.”

“I feel truly blessed and honored to have this opportunity,” Chambers stated. “I look forward to meeting all of the staff and students and hit the ground running.”

Chambers got his start in education as a custodian for the Decatur City School System when he was an undergraduate student at Athens State University.

A 1991 West Morgan High School graduate, he has 21 years of experience in education. He was assistant principal at West Morgan High for two and a half years and served in the same position at the middle school for one year before moving up to principal. He was also a classroom teacher at Brewer, Danville, Falkville and West Morgan, teaching history and driver’s education, and he was an assistant and head football coach.

Chambers received a B.S. degree in secondary education from Athens State and master’s and education specialist degrees from UNA. He and his wife Nicole, a Danville Middle School teacher, have two daughters Krystyn, a senior at West Morgan and Arden, two. They reside in Decatur.