Several more large school districts have reached deals with new superintendents within the last week in a pre-summer break hiring surge. And the state of Texas has appointed Dallas’ former superintendent to helm its takeover of Houston ISD.
The school board for the largest district, Loudon County Schools in Virginia, has appointed veteran superintendent Aaron Spence as its next leader. Spence has been superintendent of Virginia Beach City Public Schools since 2014 and was previously superintendent of Moore County Schools in North Carolina. He has also been an administrator in Houston ISD in Texas and Chesterfield County Public Schools in Virginia.
Spence replaced Scott Ziegler, who was fired in December after a Virginia grand jury accused a group of the district’s administrators of “looking out for their own interests” in transferring a teenager who had been charged with sexually assaulting a student in a high school bathroom.
Texas takeover gets new leader
Texas officials on Thursday installed new leaders at Houston ISD, completing the controversial takeover of the state’s largest school district. Mike Miles, who led Dallas ISD for three years, was sworn in as Houston’s superintendent at the district’s headquarters “without public notice or access,” Houston Public Media reports.
Miles, who also served as superintendent of Harrison School District in Colorado Springs, Colorado, acknowledged many families are satisfied with the education their children are getting in Houston schools. But, in a message posted on the district’s website, he also spoke directly to families who feel they’ve been failed by the school system.
“Schools don’t fail on their own, and there is no such thing as a failing school inside a successful district,” Miles wrote. “Most importantly, schools do not struggle because of the students they serve or the communities they are in. Schools fail because the district fails to support them.” He also promised an overhaul of Houston ISD special education programs.
I am honored and humbled to be here in Houston. It is my great privilege to lead @HoustonISD in this work to make it one of the best school districts in the country. pic.twitter.com/WizgUBrRGp
— Mike Miles (@HISDSupe) June 1, 2023
Miles also told Houston Public Media that teachers and principals will have to reapply for their jobs and a wide range of other reforms.
Pre-summer hiring surge
Jo Ann Fey is the lone finalist for superintendent of Killeen ISD in Texas. Fey is now the superintendent of Midlothian ISD, a position she has held since 2021. Prior to that, she had spent all 25 years of her career at Southwest ISD in San Antonio, Texas, where she served as a varsity basketball coach, assistant principal, academic dean, principal and assistant superintendent.
Eric Gallien, now the superintendent of Racine USD in Wisconsin, has accepted the top spot at Charleston County Schools, South Carolina’s second-largest district. Prior to becoming Racine’s superintendent in 2018, Gallien was the regional director of school support in Milwaukee Public Schools.
In Georgia, Denise Watts has been named superintendent of the Savannah-Chatham County Public School System. Watts, who is replacing the retiring Ann Levett, was most recently chief of schools at Houston ISD, which has been taken over by the state of Texas. Watts previously served as chief of district support for the Partnership for Leaders in Education at the University of Virginia and was a principal in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District in North Carolina.
In the same state, Craig Lockhart will become the 11th superintendent for Valdosta City Schools on June 27. Lockhart is currently superintendent of the Dooly County School System, also in Georgia, and was previously an instructional superintendent in the Birmingham City School District in Alabama and a deputy superintendent of Newton County Schools in Georgia.
More from DA: 5 things that have to change if we want more female superintendents
Finally, Ryan Scallon has been hired as the next superintendent of Portland Public Schools in Maine. Scallon, who will replace Superintendent Xavier Botana, is currently an assistant superintendent in The School District of Philadelphia and has been a teacher, principal and district administrator in Philadelphia, New York and Boston.
More new hires:
- Brad Berzinski, Winona Area Public Schools (Minnesota)
- Terrence Brown, West Memphis School District (Arkansas)
- Rebecca Kramer, USD 430 South Brown County (Kansas)
- Todd McKee, Cache County School District (Utah)
- Ben Necaise, Zachary Community Schools (Louisiana)
- Michelle Rodriguez, Stockon USD (California). Rodriguez is currently the superintendent of Pajaro Valley USD.
