Three assistant principals were promoted to principal positions at different elementary schools in Marion County on Tuesday amidst a discussion by the school board regarding the “domino” effect sometimes created when filling vacancies from within.
The discussion took place during the Marion County School Board’s regular meeting on Tuesday, February 11.
During the meeting, school board member Dr. Sarah James asked to pull an item concerning administrative personnel from the agenda for further discussion.
“We are experiencing some turnover in administrators and past history would demonstrate that, when we have administrator vacancies, we experience a domino effect to fill those vacancies,” said James. “That domino effect trickles into our schools.”
James made reference to four vacated assistant principal positions at the following elementary schools: Stanton-Weirsdale (Megan Parks), Wyomina Park (Angela Ponder), and East Marion (Scott Wheeler)
Parks, Ponder, and Wheeler were transferred to Ocala Springs, Hammett Brown, and Greenway Elementary School, respectively. In November 2023, Ocala-News.com reported that the former principal of Ocala Springs, Michelle Cino, won the 2024 Principal of the Year award for her work.
James expressed concerns with posting the job vacancies, saying that administrators are “typically hired” out of the district’s instructional support positions.
“And those instructional support jobs, if posted, are typically hired out of our classrooms,” said James.
The board member went on to elaborate that she was not notified of at least one of the vacancies and asked that the board be notified in a more standardized way going forward. The board member, who represents District 5, said she found out about some of the changes through email while learning of others in the “board packet.”
“I have been under the impression through past practice that the board is acknowledged and communicated with when there is a resignation, retirement, or vacation of a seat for a temporary period of time or longer,” said James. “And it seems that there are some that we’re notified of, and others that we’re not notified of. And so I would just like to understand what is the established procedure and practice, so that we know what to expect.”
At least two of the new principals are replacing other principals who have been transferred to the heads of two new elementary schools under construction in Ocala. Those elementary schools plan to open this Summer.
Marion County School Board Chair Lori Conrad agreed with James, saying she thought the county was experiencing a high amount of turnover and needed to determine how best to address it.
“I’ve never seen a turnover in our assistant principals like we’re experiencing right now. I do think that we need to take a deeper dive, in what some of the causes are for the loss of our staff in this position,” said Conrad.
Board member Nancy Thrower did not agree, saying that “3 out of 4” of the assistant principals are staying with the district and are “being elevated to principal.” The fourth is resigning and going into a different position in education, according to the school board member.
Thrower said that the assistant principals being promoted were taking over “coveted” positions at “some nice schools.”
Dr. Allison Campbell, who represents District 1, agreed with Thrower, saying she was also in support of “forward movement” among the county’s school staff.
Campbell also noted that two of the elementary schools were losing their principals because of new elementary schools, saying she was in favor of Marion County not “recruiting outside” of itself to fill vacancies.
Vice Chair Eric Cummings agreed with Campbell and Thrower, saying he’s always encouraged internal promotions and thinks its good for the staff to see those type of opportunities are available.
“It just shows that we do have qualified people behind these principals as they’re moving up or moving out to different locations,” said Cummings.
After the board members issued their comments on the matter, James clarified that she was more concerned about the “gap that we have to fill going into the remaining third and fourth quarter of the school year.”
Marion County Superintendent of Schools Diane Gullett said her office was working to fill the vacant positions and that the district is not hiring any academic employees at its central offices until all of the schools are appropriately staffed.
Gullett also took a brief moment to dispel rumors that her office is overly staffed.
“Sometimes I hear chatter that there’s a lot of people in central office. I can tell you, there’s not. We can give you a list. There are very few people and everybody’s working full speed ahead in all departments as hard as they can,” said Gullett.
The superintendent said she believes and “stands behind” the county’s process to elevate employees for promotion. She emphasized that there will be “growing pains” in having to staff the new elementary schools, but that it was an important step to hire principals from within to give them ample time to hire and fully equip their staffs.
Gullett closed her remarks by assuring the board that positions will not be opened up until staff can assure that the needs of schools and students are being met first.
UPDATE: The name of the Marion County School Board Chair was corrected in this article.