Several superintendents are switching districts and a number of first-timers are also stepping up to fill K12 leadership vacancies as summer break gets underway. On the East Coast, Kenneth R. Bossert has been selected to lead Great Neck Public Schools on New York’s Long Island, having previously served as superintendent of the Elwood Union Free School District. Bossert replaces Teresa Prendergast, who died on June 10 after having announced earlier this year that she planned to retire.
Superintendent Charles B. Sampson is moving from the Freehold Regional High School District in New Jersey to the Mamaroneck Union Free School District in New York’s Westchester County. Brendan Hyland will become superintendent of the North Allegheny School District in Pennsylvania on July 1 after having led the Plum Borough School District near Pittsburgh.
In Texas, Tim Harkrider, who has led Willis ISD in Texas for the past 10 years, has been named the new superintendent of College Station ISD. And the New Albany Floyd County Consolidated School Corporation in Indiana has chosen current Barr-Reeve Community Schools Superintendent Travis Madison as its next leader.
First-timers fill leadership vacancies
Notable administrators getting their first shot at the superintendency include Clarence Sutton, who will take the helm at Huntsville City Schools in Alabama. Sutton, who has been in education for more than 30 years, joined Huntsville in 2020 and has served as the district’s chief of staff, deputy superintendent of learning supports, and chief academic officer. He was previously the principal of Central High School in Tuscaloosa Tuscaloosa City Schools, also in Alabama.
In New Jersey, Atiya Perkins, the assistant superintendent for support at Linden Public Schools, has been promoted to the top spot of the district where she began her career as a teacher in 2002. She has also served as vice principal and principal in the intervening years.
Andalib Khelghati has been named the next superintendent of Oswego Community Unit School District 308 in Illinois after having served in high-ranking administrative positions in the nearby Evanston/Skokie School District 65. Khelghati, who was born in Togo in West Africa, is also a founding board member of Books and Breakfast, a nonprofit that provides students with tutoring, mentorship and healthy breakfasts.
More from DA: Big shifts are underway at the top in Broward—and several other large Florida districts
More new hires:
- Dana Arreola, Bessemer City Schools (Alabama)
- Christopher Brown, Capistrano Unified School District (California)
- Kathalee Cole, Lutie R-VI School District (Arkansas)
- Jim Finch, Monroe County Schools (Georgia)
- Carmela Levy-David, Bridgeport Public Schools (Connecticut)
- David Moss, Clinton-Massie Local Schools (Ohio)
… and a few departures
Superintendent Brian McDonald announced late last week that he plans to retire on June 30 after nine years leading Pasadena USD in California. He leaves the district having overhauled the curriculum, developed the district’s profile of a graduate and increased teacher salaries. “It has been particularly challenging leading the district through COVID and the return to in-person operations,” McDonald said in a farewell message to the community. “We’ve weathered some very difficult times together and emerged stronger.”
In South Carolina, Superintendent J.R. Green says he will retire from the Fairfield County School District during the 2023-24 school after having served as leader for the last 11 years. Green told WLTX.com that he is writing a book about transformational leadership and based on his experiences turning around the Fairfield County School District.
“Fairfield was very well known for inconsistency and instability in terms of district-level leadership, and, in the past 11 years, we’ve seen quite a bit of stability and quite a bit of success,” he told WLTX.vom. “I think I’m at the point now where I’ve done with what I’ve been charged with doing here.”
