KCS Superintendent Dr. Jon Rysewyk has made 17 administrative appointments. Let’s try to sort them out:
High schools – new principals
Austin-East Magnet: Dr. Rob Speas has served as principal at Hardin Valley Academy and currently as an assistant principal at Farragut High.
Fulton High: John “J.D.” Faulconer was the founding principal of Career Magnet Academy (CMA) and most recently has been principal at Paul L. Kelley Volunteer Academy.
Hardin Valley Academy: Dr. Kirk Renegar, now an assistant principal at Central High School, will take the helm at HVA.
Paul Kelley Volunteer Academy: Dr. Sofia Roth has been principal at Richard Yoakley School.
Richard Yoakley School: No one yet named
Middle schools – new principals
Vine Middle: Robin Curry, principal at Sarah Moore Greene Magnet since 2019, previously was an assistant principal at Vine Middle and also at West Valley Middle.
Whittle Springs Middle: Kathleen Turnmire, currently an assistant principal at Austin-East Magnet High, has previous experience at high schools in Nashville and Brentwood. She began her career in administration at KCS in 2019 as an assistant administrator and instructional coach at Dr. Paul Kelley Volunteer Academy.
Elementary schools – new principals
East Knox County: Beth Spence joined Knox County Schools in 2010 as a teacher at Gibbs Elementary School. She began her career in administration in 2019 at Amherst Elementary where she currently serves as assistant principal.
Gap Creek: Carl Whipple is currently principal at West Haven Elementary School. He has been in administration since 2006 when he became assistant principal at Norwood Elementary. In 2019, he was named assistant principal at Northshore Elementary.
Karns Elementary: Daniel Champion has been principal at Whittle Springs Middle School since 2020. He’s also served as an assistant principal at Vine and Gresham middle schools and Ridgedale Alternative.
Sarah Moore Greene Magnet: James Slay, current principal at Gap Creek Elementary, joined KCS in 2011 as a teacher at Inskip Elementary. He’s also been assistant principal of Green Magnet Academy and Shannondale Elementary.
West Haven: Tye Sutton has been principal at Vine Middle School. Since joining KCS in 2014, he has been an assistant principal at Fulton High, Northwest Middle, Karns High and principal at Vine and South-Doyle middle schools.
Central office
Lindsay Burke-Melton has been appointed director of compensation in the KCS finance office.
Tammi Campbell, previously principal at Austin-East, has been appointed director of student and family supports. She served as ombudsman for KCS from 2017 until being assigned to A-E.
Mitchell Cox, most recently principal at Hardin Valley Academy, returns to the HR department as director of employee relations. He previously has been principal at Halls and Cedar Bluff elementary schools.
Dr. Shelly Maddux has been appointed interim director of Region One (one of five administrative zones that includes Bearden, Farragut and West high school and associated feeders). Danny Trent has held this job with Maddux as Region One supervisor. Maddux was previously principal at Pond Gap and Amherst elementary schools.
Seth Smith, principal at Fulton High since 2019, has been named interim supervisor for Region One – a job previously held by Shelly Maddux.
Kristi Woods, currently principal at East Knox Elementary, has been named chief-of-staff
Sandra Clark is editor/CEO of Knox TN Today, Inc.