Another big city district has promoted from within to find its new superintendent. Sacramento City Unified School District in California just elevated Deputy Superintendent Lisa Allen to its top spot after she served as the interim since July 2023.
Allen has been with the district in California’s capital for 28 years, and her experience there, including her performance as interim superintendent, played a key role in her appointment, school board members said.
“My job title may be changing, but my top priority remains the same—improving student outcomes,” Allen said in a statement. “We accomplish that by working collectively to ensure our schools are safe, welcoming and inclusive spaces where every student is empowered to learn and thrive.”
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Texas’ Royse City ISD has also promoted its interim, Amy Anderson, to succeed its retiring leader. She was previously Royse City’s chief academic officer and deputy superintendent. Michael Bolsoni has been chosen to lead Minnesota’s District 196 Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan, where has been a longtime educator and most recently served as director of secondary education.
In California, the Huntington Beach Union High School District has picked as its next leader Carolee Ogata, who has been the Southern California system’s deputy superintendent of human resources since 2012 and has spent 32 years in education. The Alvord School District has chosen Assistant Superintendent Resma Byrne to take the helm on July 1. Byrne has also been an administrator in Walnut Valley USD and Corona-Norco USD.
And in Georgia, Assistant Superintendent Howie Gunby, a longtime employee, was named superintendent of Lincoln County Schools.
Administrators on the move
Another group of superintendents has found new homes in the last week, including Mary Templeton, who is moving from the Washougal School District in Washington to the Lake Stevens School District in the same state. She was previously an administrator with Spokane Public Schools. New York Superintendent Kelly Zimmerman is relocating from the Delaware Academy Central School District to Dansville Central Schools.
In Ohio, Daniel White is taking the helm at Revere Local Schools after serving as the Keystone Local School District’s superintendent since 2018. And the Ames Community School District in Iowa has appointed Scott Grimes as its next superintendent. Grimes is now the recovery support administrator at the Perry Community School District and previously spent 12 years as superintendent of the Dallas Center-Grimes School District.
Administrators getting their first shot at the superintendency include Kelli Cogan, who is taking the helm at Independence Local Schools in Ohio after serving as an assistant superintendent in the Olmsted Falls School District. Cogan has also been a principal in several other districts in the Cleveland area. In New York, Fatima Morrell, a longtime administrator in Buffalo Public Schools, has been named superintendent of the Southampton Union Free School District on Long Island.
The Bald Eagle Area School District in Pennsylvania has chosen as its next superintendent Christopher Santini, who is currently the director of pupil services and operations for Central Cambria School District.
More new hires:
- Michael Barber, Jacksonville City Schools (Alabama)
- Ted Davis, Hillsdale Community Schools (Michigan)
- Brian Knight, Liberty Local School District (Ohio)
- Chris Mathes, South Point Local School District (Ohio)
- William “Billy” Niemeyer, Middletown Public Schools (Rhode Island)
- Jeff Patrick, Northwestern Local Schools (Ohio)
- Kimberly Sheehan, Santa Ynez Valley Union High School District (California)
