People Watch
School Administrator, January 2018


Guadalupe C. Guerrero
Portland Public Schools in Oregon has named Guadalupe Guerrero as its new superintendent. He spent the previous seven years in the San Francisco Unified School District as deputy superintendent of instruction, innovation and social justice, assistant superintendent for the Mission District and a special assistant to the superintendent. Earlier in Boston, Guerrero was a cluster leader on the superintendent’s leadership team and an elementary school principal. He taught for nine years in San Francisco, Oakland and Boston. Guerrero has been an AASA member since 2012.
 

 

Chresal D. Threadgill
Four years after becoming the first African American superintendent of Elba City Schools in Elba, Ala., Chresal Threadgill is now chief of staff for Mobile County, Ala., Public Schools. He previously served as the assistant to the superintendent and director of federal programs, curriculum, instruction and assessment, and special education in Troy, Ala.. He began his career in administration as a vice principal in Butler County, Ala., before stints as assistant principal and principal in Troy. Threadgill has been a member of AASA since 2013.
 



Marilyn Hissong
Marilyn Hissong has taken over the top job in East Allen County schools in New Haven, Ind., after spending her entire career there. Previously, she was the assistant superintendent of elementary education for the last two years and managed curriculum for the district as assistant superintendent. Hissong’s career began in 1992 as an elementary teacher and junior varsity volleyball coach before she was promoted to principal of the district’s Monroeville Elementary School. She joined AASA in 2013.
 

 

Robin Gilbert
After spending almost 30 years in the Middleton School District in Middleton, Idaho, Robin Gilbert was named superintendent in Payette, Idaho. She most recently was director of instruction and student achievement at Middleton, after a 15-year stint as principal at Middleton Heights Elementary School. Earlier, she taught, administered the Title I program and was service coordinator for the district before spending a year as a vice principal. Gilbert is past president of the Idaho Association of Elementary School Principals. An adjunct professor at Northwestern Nazarene University, she joined AASA in 2016.
 
 

Michael Penca
Michael Penca is the new superintendent of the 9,800-student Flagstaff, Ariz., Unified School District. This follows a 22-year career in Mason City, Iowa, where Penca began as a kindergarten teacher in 1996. He served as a principal in three schools in the district — Madison, Harding and Jefferson elementary schools — before becoming a district-level administrator in 2010. Until being named interim superintendent, Penca was executive director for learning supports and PK-4 programs. Earlier, Penca taught in Houston, Texas. He has been an AASA member since 2016.




David H. Weiss
The former superintendent of the 3,900-student Long Beach, N.Y., Public Schools, David Weiss, has taken the reins of the U.S. public schools division of International Baccalaureate in Bethesda, Md. Before coming to Long Beach in 2011, Weiss was assistant superintendent for secondary education in Commack, N.Y. He coordinated the IB diploma program at South Side High School in Rockville Centre, N.Y., and was a co-founder and past president of the Guild of IB Schools of the Northeast. Weiss joined AASA in 2011.






APPOINTMENTS
Barbara L. Baker, from interim superintendent to superintendent, Garrett County, Md.
Scott Crane, from superintendent, Grand County, Utah, to executive director, Southeast Education Service Center, Price, Utah
David C. Creswell, from associate superintendent, Fontana, Calif., to superintendent, Ventura, Calif.
Jeff Elstad, from superintendent, Byron, Minn., to superintendent, Owatonna, Minn.
Boyd English, from superintendent, Crenshaw County Schools, Luverne, Ala., to superintendent, Albertville, Ala.
Michael Faulk, from superintendent, Central Community School System, Baton Rouge, La., to executive director, Louisiana Association of School Superintendents
Paul Fregeau, from assistant superintendent, North Kansas City Schools, Kansas City, Mo., to superintendent, Decatur, Ill.
Bruce Hibbard, from superintendent, New Albany-Floyd County School Corporation, New Albany, Ind., to superintendent, Franklin Township Community School Corporation, Indianapolis, Ind.
Tim Hood, from superintendent, Keokuk, Iowa, to dual superintendent, Sidney, Iowa, and South Page Community School District, College Springs, Iowa
Jeff Hyatt, from superintendent, Sparta, Mo., to superintendent, Gainesville, Mo.
Gene Kirchner, from superintendent, Fort Thomas, Ky., to chief operating officer, Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, Fort Mitchell, Ky.
Gary Mala, from superintendent, Avon, Conn., to director, EASTCONN, Hampton, Conn.
Kevin Mitchell, from superintendent, Park County, Wyo., to executive director, Wyoming Association of School Administrators, Powell, Wyo.
Kristen Paul, from associate principal, Caruso Middle School, Deerfield, Ill., to principal, Barrington Middle School, Barrington, Ill.
Colleen A. Timm, from superintendent, Mishicot, Wis., to district administrator, Antigo, Wis.
 
 
RETIREMENTS
Terri Cox-Cruey, superintendent, Kenton County, Ky.
Gerald Huesken, superintendent, Conestoga Valley School District, Lancaster, Pa.


HONORS
Arthur Stellar, named 2017 TKE Excellence in Education Award winner by Tau Kappa Epsilon


 
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