Karen Jordan, Information Officer for the School District, announced several changes in staff which occurred over the summer.
Gina Michalicka, previously Executive Director for Academic Services, has been promoted to Deputy Superintendent.
John Stratton, formerly the principal of Central High School, will succeed Michalicka as Executive Director of Academic Services.
Chris Mundell, who has served in many capacities in his 14 years in the transportation department, has been promoted to the position of Assistant Director of Transportation.
With 20 years of experience in the district, including serving as Assistant Principal at Hernando High School and as a Literacy Coach, Erica McDowell is now the Supervisor of Elementary Programs.
New principals include: Steve Crognale (Discovery Academy/Endeavor), Joyce Lewis (JD Floyd Elementary), and Kelly Slusser (Central High).
Kristina Stratton, principal of Westside Elementary, has been nominated by Hernando County District Schools as the Outstanding Leader of the Year 2016. Under Stratton, Westside improved their performance as a “D” school in 2014 to a “B” school in 2015 and 2016.
Jordan shared before and after pictures of Westside Elementary’s large-scale construction effort during the shortened summer. The projects, installing 50,000 sf of retrofitted HVAC and lighting, was funded with the sales tax collected. The upgrades will save an estimated 40% in electricity costs and provide more efficient heating and cooling for the students and staff.
In order to ensure students were eating well during the summer, the Food and Nutrition Department provided more than 73,000 meals to students at 23 sites around the county.
As part of other school improvements, the workshop “Do I Really Have to Plan?” was held to help teachers encourage students to plan their informative writing assignments in grades 4 and 5. The Title I team worked with schools to prepare for the iReady plan.
SunTech reports a 91% enrollment rate for returning students. With 18 more students enrolled (a 12.5% increase over last year), SunTech will have 39 students. Yamil Figueroa is the Workforce Development Specialist who will be assisting students with placement in jobs with local employers.
Jordan also stated that the HCSD mobile app had 250 downloads when it was introduced at start of summer. At last report, the app had been downloaded 3,400 times.