Superintendent turnover: 3 big districts make important changes

A leader resigns in Milwaukee while new superintendents are set to take the helm in Springfield, Massachusetts, and Portland, Oregon.

Superintendent turnover continued its rapid clip over the last week with major changes in three larger districts.

Keith Posley resigned as superintendent of Milwaukee Public Schools after having led the district since 2018. Posley stepped down just days after state and federal officials expressed concerns about delayed financial reporting, according to multiple news reports. A district regional superintendent, Eduardo Galvan, was immediately named interim leader.

Kimberlee Armstrong
Kimberlee Armstrong

On the hiring front, Kimberlee Armstrong was named superintendent of Portland Public Schools in Oregon. Armstrong is currently deputy superintendent of Evergreen Public Schools in Vancouver, Washington. Armstrong previously served as chief academic officer in Portland and as an administrator in Santa Rosa City Schools and the Tamalpais Union High School District in California.

Springfield Public Schools in Massachusetts has picked former employee Sonia Dinnall as its first female superintendent. Dinnall—a lifelong resident of the city and graduate of the district—is now chief of family and community engagement for the Springfield Empowerment Zone Partnership and previously served as a principal in Springfield Public Schools and an administrator in Hartford Public Schools in Connecticut.

Iton-Etok O Udosenata
Iton-Etok O Udosenata

Also in Oregon, the Tigard-Tualatin School District chose its next superintendent, Iton-Etok O Udosenata, now a deputy superintendent with the Salem-Keizer School District. In Ohio, the Stow-Munroe Falls City School District appointed Felisha Gould as its next superintendent. Gould is currently an assistant superintendent at Cleveland Heights-University Heights City Schools.

The North Shore School District 112 in Illinois has picked its first Latina superintendent, Monica Schroeder, who has worked for the Chicago-area school system for nearly two decades. Ava Tasker-Mitchell, formerly an administrator in Prince George’s County Public Schools, has been chosen to lead Somerset County Public Schools in the same state.

Matthew McCorkle
Matthew McCorkle

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In New York’s Greece Central School District, no sooner did longtime Superintendent Kathleen Graupman announce she would resign on Jan. 1 than the district looked within to hire her replacement, Deputy Superintendent Jeremy Smalline, who has been with the district since 2005. And in Ohio’s Portsmouth City School District has hired its next leader, Matthew McCorkle, a longtime administrator and former superintendent of Washington Court House City Schools.

More new hires

Superintendent turnover: Departures

The following superintendents are leaving their districts:

  • The East Stroudsburg Area School District (Pennsylvania) is parting ways with Superintendent William Riker, the Pocono Record reported.
  • Superintendent Anna Shepherd has announced her retirement from Floyd County Schools (Kentucky)
  • Superintendent Tom Wilson is retiring from the Watson Chapel School District (Arkansas)
Matt Zalaznick
Matt Zalaznick
Matt Zalaznick is the managing editor of District Administration and a life-long journalist. Prior to writing for District Administration he worked in daily news all over the country, from the NYC suburbs to the Rocky Mountains, Silicon Valley and the U.S. Virgin Islands. He's also in a band.