People Watch

People Watch
School Administrator, May 2017

Doug Brubaker
After 21 years of duty in Texas, Doug Brubaker has assumed the superintendency of Fort Smith, Ark., Public Schools. Most recently, he served as associate superintendent of Garland Independent School District in Garland, Texas. He began his career as a 4th-grade teacher in Birdville ISD and later worked as assistant principal, principal, department administrator and assistant superintendent in various districts in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Brubaker earned his doctorate in educational computing from the University of North Texas. He has been an AASA member since 2016.

Janet Dunlop
The new superintendent at Broken Arrow, Okla., Public Schools is Janet Dunlop. Previously, she was deputy superintendent of accountability and assessment at the Oklahoma State Department of Education, where she developed new state standards and accountability measures. Dunlop also worked as Broken Arrow’s associate superintendent of instruction, spearheading a literacy initiative that was recognized by the National Reading Recovery Council. She has been a member of AASA since 2013.

Jeff Elstad
The Owatonna Public Schools in Owatonna, Minn., recently named Jeff Elstad as superintendent. He will join the school district from nearby Byron Public Schools, where he served as superintendent since 2012. Elstad earlier was principal of Willow Creek Middle School in the Rochester, Minn., district and assistant principal at Owatonna High School. He also spent time as director of special services and a speech pathologist in other districts. An adjunct professor at University of St. Thomas, Elstad has been a member of AASA since 2012. He completed the AASA National Superintendent Certification in March.

Clint Harwick
After six years leading Saddleback Valley Unified School District in Mission Viejo, Calif., Clint Harwick is now superintendent of the Huntington Beach, Calif., Union High School District. He earlier served as superintendent in both the Charter Oak Unified School District and Rim of the World Unified School District. The son of two educators, he began his career as a school custodian, then became a teacher, principal, director of both classified personnel and alternative education in the Claremont, Calif., Unified School District. A member of AASA since 2010, he earned his doctorate from Azusa Pacific University.

Meri C. Skilliter
Meri Skilliter is the new superintendent of the Ada Exempted Village Schools in Lima, Ohio. Skilliter earlier was superintendent of Ohio’s McComb School District for three years. She also worked as a principal in Gibsonburg, Ohio, for six years and the early part of her career in the Bluffton School District as a 5th-grade teacher and elementary school principal. She served since 1999 as team leader of Allen County, Ohio, Critical Incident Stress Management. Skilliter has been an AASA member since 2013.

Zeb Talley Jr.
In his 40th year as an educator, Zebedee Talley Jr. has been named superintendent in the Martinsville, Va., City Public Schools. Talley has served the Martinsville community since 1978, working as a history and government teacher for 15 years, coach of track and basketball, choir director, a vice principal, co-principal of Martinsville Middle School and principal of Patrick Henry Elementary School. He holds a doctoral degree in educational leadership from Virginia Tech. A pastor at the United Holiness Worship Center Church in Pelham, N.C., for the past 32 years, Talley joined AASA in 2016.

APPOINTMENTS

Peter M. Carbone, from interim superintendent to superintendent, Aliquippa School District, Aliquippa, Pa.
Patricia DeBoer, from interim superintendent to superintendent, Mashpee Public Schools, Mashpee, Mass.
Kelli Moulton, from superintendent, Hereford ISD, Hereford, Texas, to superintendent, Galveston ISD, Galveston, Texas
Corey Seymour, from Cedar Hill ISD lead high school principal, Cedar Hill, Texas, to superintendent, Santa Gertrudis ISD, Kingsville, Texas
Robert Williams, from interim superintendent to superintendent, Hattiesburg Public School District, Hattiesburg, Miss.

RETIREMENTS
Nancy Allen-Mastro, superintendent, West St. Paul-Mendota Heights-Eagan Area Schools (District 197), Mendota Heights, Minn.
Martha Bruckner, superintendent, Council Bluffs Community School District, Council Bluffs, Iowa
Eric Churchwell, Palmyra R1 School District, Palmyra, Mo.
Jeffrey Clark, superintendent, Valley Grove School District, Franklin, Pa.
Jon Felske, superintendent, Muskegon Public Schools, Muskegon, Mich.
Nathan Greenberg, superintendent, Londonderry School District, Londonderry, N.H.
Jeff Hall, superintendent, Swartz Creek Community Schools, Swartz Creek, Mich.
Thomas Lockamy, superintendent, Savannah-Chatham Public Schools, Savannah, Ga.
Bob Morrison, superintendent, Garland ISD, Garland, Texas
Greg Rasmussen, superintendent, Andover Public Schools, Andover, Kan.
Jim Schlachter, superintendent, Gresham-Barlow School District, Gresham, Ore.
Dennis Tobin, superintendent, Madison School District, Madison N.J.
Susan Ursprung, superintendent, Donegal School District, Mount Joy, Pa.
James L. Welker, superintendent, Cape Girardeau Public Schools, Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Janet Womack, superintendent, Florence City Schools, Florence, Ala.
Camille Wright, Enterprise City Schools, Enterprise, Ala.

News about AASA members’ promotions, retirements, honors and deaths should be addressed to: Editor, School Administrator, 1615 Duke St., Alexandria, VA 22314. Fax: 703-841-1543. E-mail: magazine@aasa.org