Libby Public School officials are holding interviews this week for its vacant elementary school principal position.

The school began its search for a new principal after the abrupt resignation last month of Jeanine Kidwell at the end of the 2025-26 school year.

Three candidates will be interviewed during a special board meeting at 3:30 p.m. at the K.W. Maki Theatre on 724 Louisiana Ave.

Timberly Kelly will be interviewed first, followed by Nathan Williams at about 4:30 p.m. Jon Hewitt will be interviewed at approximately 5:30 p.m. via Google Meet.

The interviews are open to the public. Following them, public comment will be accepted and the board will deliberate. It is possible that a new principal will be selected.

Prior to the interviews, Kelly and Williams will meet separately with Superintendent Ron Goodman, then have individual tours of the school and meet with school staff members.

All three candidates have prior experience as administrators. 

Nathan Williams is a retired principal from Bonners Ferry, Idaho. He’s had a storied history in scholastic and college basketball.

According to a March 10, 2024, story in the Coeur d’Alene Press, Williams starred at Franklin High in Portland, graduating in 1993. He ended up at Whitworth University and was the starting point guard on the Pirates’ 1996 team that played for the NAIA championship.

His teaching and coaching careers have taken him to Stanfield, Oregon, Valley Christian School in Spokane Valley, and Bonners Ferry. Most recently, he coached the Bonners Ferry varsity boys basketball to a Class 3A title in 2024 and the Class 4A title in 2025. They were state runners-up in 2023 in Class 3A.

Kelly, a Paradise native, also has an impressive resume with a 30-year career of teaching and working as an administrator in Montana schools.

According to her LinkedIn profile, she taught in Western Montana schools in Paradise, Plains and St. Regis from 1996 to 2019.

She got her first administrative job in 2019 as the K-6 principal at Box Elder. She then worked as the superintendent and principal at Plevna in 2022-23, was the budget manager at Plevna before becoming the principal at Harlem.

Hewitt, a Missoula native, also is a long-time Montana educator with experience in public and private schools.

According to a Dec. 10, 2019, story in the Daily Inter Lake, Hewitt, who has a master’s degree in education, was a principal and music teacher for the Kalispell campus of the OneSchool Global North America region. The private school exclusively serves Plymouth Brethren Christian Church members. 

Hewitt took over as elementary principal at Malta in 2024. 

According to an Aug. 8, 2024, story in the Phillips County News, Hewitt taught elementary school in Polson, Noxon, Missoula, Superior and Plains.

According to an April 22, 2026, item in the Phillips County News, Hewitt was placed on paid administrative leave on Feb. 19. Further, the story reported on March 29 that Hewitt’s employment was non-renewed by the Board of Trustees on the recommendation of Superintendent Ron Bucks following a third-party investigation. It was reported that Hewitt was not returning to the position this year.

Another news outlet, kfyrtv.com reported on March 3 that Bucks was offered the superintendent position with Surrey Public School in North Dakota.

The Phillips County News printed a letter in its July 1 edition from Hewitt: https://www.phillipscountynews.com/story/2026/07/01/opinion/former-principal-shares-his-account-of-what-happened/18331.html.

Hewitt, in part, wrote, "The report confirmed the district’s investigation findings, including that there was no misconduct. The report also pointed out that the culture of the elementary school was due, in part, to the repeated replacement of the administration over the last ten years.

"In summary, all allegations were false, were proven false, and, in my opinion, were produced by entities within the elementary school in an attempt to discredit my leadership and me. Unfortunately, these entities achieved their goals."