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New assistant superintendent expected to be named this week in Hernando

 
Published June 30, 2014

BROOKSVILLE — The Hernando County School District will soon name a new assistant superintendent of academic services, a post that has been vacant since December.

The position is expected to be filled later this week and confirmed by School Board members July 29.

Twenty-four candidates applied for the position, with 14 meeting the qualifications. That number has been whittled down to five finalists, including one district employee, according to spokesman Eric Williams. All interviews have been finished.

Hernando curriculum supervisor Marcia Austin is the lone district employee to make the cut.

Two finalists came from Pasco County, including Edward "John" Abernathy, the principal of Wesley Chapel Elementary School in Wesley Chapel who has been with the Pasco school district since 1992. Fredric Mellin, a high school principal in Pasco, also made the finalist cut, but later withdrew.

The other candidates for the job are Keith Cox, a high school principal in St. Lucie County and a former assistant superintendent, and Wanda Grondin, a director with ITT Technical Institutes.

The Hernando school system has been without an assistant superintendent of teaching and learning since Ken Pritz was reassigned to alternative duties in December. The finalist who is selected to replace him will share the title of assistant superintendent with Sonya Jackson, who currently supervises district operations.

Contact Danny Valentine at dvalentine@tampabay.com or (352) 848-1432. Follow @HernandoTimes.