NAME/TITLE & SCHOOL/SALARY
Shelly Kerr/ assistant principal, Freedom Elementary/ $78,377
Candice Lessing/ assistant principal, VanGorden Elementary/ $78,377
Amy Marquette/assistant principal, Liberty Early Childhood Center/$78,377
Linda Pavlinac/ principal, Creekside Elementary/ $95,880
Kevin Thomas/ assistant principal, Shawnee Early Childhood School/ $78,377
Jennifer Ullard/ associate principal Lakota East Freshman Campus/ $94,500
Staffing changes at the highest level of Lakota schools are taking place as the district prepares for a new school year.
Sabrina Hubert, resigned effective June 1 as principal of Freedom Elementary but was rehired by the district to start Aug. 1 as director of professional development.
“My job is to create a structure that brings all of the professional development together,” she said. “We’ll publish a publication that will let teachers know in August 2016 what types of professional development are available for the entire school year from all departments across the district.”
Hubert previously worked as a third-grade, fifth-grade and Title I teacher and an assistant principal before becoming principal.
Taking over for Hubert will be Lance Green, a Liberty Twp. resident who has been an educator for 15 years, the last 10 of which he has spent at Freedom. Before serving as the school’s assistant principal, he taught fourth- through sixth-grade there.
“I actually hired Lance as a teacher and have witnessed his positive impact on the Freedom community in the years since,” Hubert said. “He is a born leader and a great role model and I could not feel more confident that my work is being left in the most capable hands.”
Filling Green’s assistant principal position will be Shelly Kerr. Kerr’s experience includes serving as a substitute principal for Madison Intermediate School and teaching fifth grade in Madison Local School District.
Also stepping down as principal is Brad Lovell, whose last day as principal of Creekside Early Childhood School is July 31. His position will be filled by Linda Pavlinac of West Chester Twp., whose experience includes serving as assistant principal of Winton Woods Elementary during the 2014-2015 school year, as well as teaching first and second grades for the district, where she received the Most Influential Teacher Award in 2012 and a District Innovation Award in 2013.
Ronda Reimer, Shawnee Early Childhood School’s early childhood principal, resigned effective July 1 after 30 years of employment as a teacher, assistant principal and building principal in three school districts, the last seven of which were spent in Lakota schools.
Filling her position is Theresa Brock, who began her career in education 10 years ago. Before that, she specialized in accounting before staying home for a period of time to raise her children.
After completing her student teaching at Hopewell Elementary, she was hired as a reading specialist and later the school’s Title 1 teacher. She went on to earn a master’s degree from Ashland University and a license in school administration, which earned her the assistant principal position at Hopewell Elementary in 2011. She joined Shawnee in that role in the 2014-2015 school year.
Stepping in as assistant principal at Shawnee is Kevin Thomas, who has taught third grade for Lakota schools.
April Weese, assistant principal of VanGorden Elementary, resigns effective July 31. Filling her position will be Candice Lessing, who
served as school psychologist for Fairfield City Schools and Oak Hills School District. She also served on the Third Grade Reading Guarantee district committee and Building Leadership team for Oak Hills Local School District.
Stacey Orso, associate principal at Lakota East High School, ended her four years with Lakota late last month. Hired to be associate principal at Lakota East Freshman is Jennifer Ullard, whose experience included teaching math and serving as the dean of student life at Sycamore Community School District. Administration experience includes serving as the high school assistant principal at Indian Hill Exempted Village School District.
Amy Marquette will be a new assistant principal at Liberty Early Childhood Center. Marquette, who taught special education for Madeira City Schools and Princeton City Schools, also was a special educator for Williamsburg Elementary School. Her administration experience includes serving as the director of learning resource center for Princeton Day School.
John Mattingly, assistant principal of Wyandot Early Childhood School, will become the principal of Brent Elementary in the Finneytown Local School District. His resignation is effective July 31.
Principals aren’t the only administrative staffers who recently submitted letters of retirement or resignation.
Randy Oppenheimer, Lakota’s executive director of media and community relations, will retire in December after a little more than three years with the district.
“It’s just a good time,” he told the Journal-News. “My wife’s already been retired for several years, and we’ve got a couple of grandchildren we’d like to see more of.”
Lauren Boettcher, who serves as project manager, media and community relations, will be promoted to Oppenheimer’s position in January.
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