People Watch
School Administrator, April 2020
Dolan Blakey 
After moving through the ranks from teacher to superintendent in Colonial School District in New Castle, Del., Dolan “Dusty” Blakey moved across the state line to become superintendent of Kennett Consolidated School District in Pennsylvania. Blakey served Colonial as director of schools, personnel director, high school principal and middle school principal, as well as assistant principal and social studies teacher. He received a doctorate in administration and public policy from the University of Delaware. Blakey became a member of AASA in 2014.
 





Ronald Fritz
The new superintendent of the Volusia County Schools in DeLand, Fla., is Ronald “Scott” Fritz. Fritz formerly was chief of staff for teaching, leading and learning and assistant superintendent in the School District of Osceola County in Kissimmee, Fla., and chief academic officer for five years in the Orange County Schools in Orlando, Fla. He previously worked as principal at three schools in Hillsborough County Schools in Tampa, Fla. Fritz earned his Ed.D. in educational leadership from the University of Central Florida in Orlando. He joined AASA in 2018.
 




Penelope Martin-Knox
Penelope Martin-Knox became the new superintendent of Sumter School District in Sumter, S.C., in time for the 2019-20 school year. Martin-Knox moved to Sumter from Maryland’s Baltimore County Public Schools, where she served as chief of school climate and safety, community superintendent and assistant superintendent of middle schools. She also was a principal and assistant principal in Baltimore County. Martin-Knox received her doctorate in urban education and leadership from Morgan State University. She became an AASA member in 2012.
 

 

David K. Moore
After six years serving as assistant superintendent of academic support in the Miami-Dade County, Fla., Public Schools, the nation’s fourth largest district with 350,000 students, David Moore has been named superintendent of Indian River County, Fla. In earlier postings in Dade County, Moore was administrative director for education transformation and principal at three senior high schools. He began his career as a special education teacher. An AASA member since 2019, Moore completed his doctorate in organizational leadership at Nova Southeastern University.

 


Courtney L. Orzel
After six years at the helm of the Lemont-Bromberek Combined School District 113A in Lemont, Ill., Courtney Orzel will be the new associate director of professional development for the Illinois Association of School Administrators at the end of the school year. Orzel previously was superintendent in Forest Ridge School District 142 in Oak Forest, Ill., after serving as a middle school principal there for seven years. She earned her doctorate from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She has been a member of AASA since 2013.
 





Glenn Robbins
Having served as superintendent of the Tabernacle Township School District in Manahawkin, N.J., since 2016, Glenn Robbins is moving into the top berth of the Brigantine Community Schools in New Jersey. Prior to Tabernacle, he was principal of a middle school in Northfield, N.J. for four years. In a previous administrative posting, Robbins was an assistant principal in Egg Harbor Township, N.J., where he also taught social studies and coached soccer. Robbins, an AASA member since 2017, serves as one of his state’s representatives on the AASA Governing Board.
 




APPOINTMENTS
Ty Crain, from assistant superintendent to superintendent, Fulton 58 School District, Fulton Mo.
Sean Maika, from interim superintendent to superintendent, North East Independent School District, San Antonio, Texas
Traci Pierce, from deputy superintendent to superintendent, Kennewick, Wash.
Mike Slagle, from deputy superintendent, Blue Valley School District, Overland Park, Kan., to superintendent, Raymore-Peculiar School District, Peculiar, Mo.
A.J. Taylor, from director of instructional services to superintendent, Safford, Ariz.

RETIREMENTS
Dave Bond, superintendent, Kennewick, Wash.
Jean Born, superintendent, Sheboygan Falls, Wis.
Carl Bruner, superintendent, Mount Vernon, Wash.
Jacque Cowherd, superintendent, Fulton Public School District, Fulton, Mo.
RoseMary P. Duran, superintendent, Merced City School District, Merced, Calif.
William H. Johnson, superintendent, Rockville Centre, N.Y.
Jerry Keane, superintendent, Post Falls, Idaho
Kari Monsees, superintendent, Raymore-Peculiar School District, Peculiar, Mo.
Randy Poe, superintendent, Boone County Schools, Florence, Ky.
Raquel Reedy, superintendent, Albuquerque Public Schools, Albuquerque, N.M.
Stephen Shafer, superintendent, Franklin-Essex-Hamilton BOCES, Malone, N.Y.
Barry Tomasetti, superintendent, Kennett Square, Pa.
Ken VanWinkle, superintendent, Safford, Ariz.

DEATHS
Leo R. Croce, 96, retired superintendent, Livermore Valley, Calif., Jan. 27
John J. Daniels, 84, retired superintendent, Amherst County, Va., Jan. 11
Gene A. Geisert, 92, retired superintendent, Orleans Parish, La., Jan. 23
John C. Mason, 75, retired superintendent, Herman, Wis., Dec. 2
Brett M. Misavage, 51, retired superintendent, Shikellamy, Pa., Jan. 7
Wayman Shiver Jr., 81, retired superintendent, Birmingham, Ala., Jan. 23
Walter “Jerry” Watkins, 72, retired superintendent, Hammond, Ind., Dec. 30
Bill Wrenn, 58, superintendent, Midland CUSD 7, Sparland, Ill., Jan. 26
 
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