Kyle Wieland has resigned as Manchester Community Schools’ superintendent after he was victimized by an internet scam that cost the Indiana district $1.2 million, according to local reports.
Wieland made the $1.2 million payment to internet fraudsters who used a phishing-type scam to pose as one of the district’s construction contractors, WPTA 21 Alive reported. Wieland, who will remain with the district as its director of communications, has received an outpouring of support in recent weeks, WPTA also noted.
“This fraud and the events that followed have hurt me to my core, and the decisions I have had to make are devastating,” Wieland told WPTA.
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Leaders departing under less rocky circumstances include Heath Morrison, who has led multiple districts and has resigned as superintendent of Montgomery ISD in Texas to take the helm of “a national organization focused on addressing one of the biggest challenges to public education.” Morrison became Montgomery ISD’s superintendent in 2020, having previously served as superintendent of the Washoe County School District in Nevada and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools in North Carolina. He was named AASA’s National Superintendent of the Year in 2012.
Superintendent Scott Taylor is leaving the Township of Union Public Schools in New Jersey two years into a five-year contract, TAPinto.com reported. Taylor, who told TAPinto his next position would be “outside the superintendency,” has served as the superintendent of two other New Jersey districts: Highland Park School District and Kenilworth Public Schools.
Superintendent Lorie Noll is retiring from the Fairfield Community School District in Iowa after nine years of leadership and 40 years in education. She was previously the director of curriculum and instruction at the Burlington Community School District. And in Alabama, Dee Fowler has resigned from Hoover City Schools after coming out of retirement in 2021 to lead the district. He was previously the superintendent of Madison City Schools, also in Alabama.
Notable new hires
Kansas’ largest district, Wichita Public Schools, has chosen Kelly Bielefeld as its new superintendent. Bielefeld has been the district’s executive director of college and career readiness and has previously been an administrator in the Clearwater, Derby and Renwick school systems, all in Kansas.
In Wisconsin, David Muñoz has been named the next superintendent of the School District of Menomonee Falls. Muñoz is currently the superintendent of the Mosinee School District in northern Wisconsin.
This week’s first-time superintendent hires:
- Jeremy Calles, Tolleson Union High School District (Arizona)
- Tonya Constantine, Pine Island Public Schools (Minnesota)
- Jennifer Griffin, Hickory Public Schools (North Carolina)
- Bonnie Johson, Gilboa-Conesville Central School (New York)
- Sherril Knox, Ojai USD (California)
- David Scott, Bristol Virginia Public Schools (Virginia)
- Brad Soileau, Allen Parish School Board (Louisiana)
- Terry Walker, Keppel Union School District (California)
- Jonathan B. Williams, Whiteville City Schools (North Carolina)
