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Superintendent Hill names 10 assistants — six of them new — to oversee CMS schools

Crystal Hill sits at a table
Ann Doss Helms
/
WFAE
CMS Chief of Staff Crystal Hill talks to Mecklenburg County Manager Dena Diorio at a joint meeting of the school board and county commissioners in December 2022.

Superintendent Crystal Hill on Tuesday announced 10 assistant superintendents who will oversee Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s 184 schools.

The district currently has nine “learning community superintendents” who oversee schools based on geography. Only four of them will return in the new structure, which groups schools by grade level.

The new contract continues Hill’s push to put new people in charge of key functions.

Here’s the new crew:

  • Laura Rosenbach and Kim Schroeder will be in charge of high schools. Rosenbach now leads the Central Learning Community and Schroeder leads the Southeast Learning Community.
  • Jennifer Dean and Jacqueline Jones will oversee middle schools. Dean is executive director of the North Learning Community and Jones is director of school leadership for Cincinnati Public Schools.
  • Kimberly Vaught, who is currently executive director of leadership development for CMS, will supervise K-8 schools.
  • Assistant superintendents for elementary schools are Stephen Esposito, Northeast Learning Community superintendent; Felicia Renee McKinnon, director of school performance for Union County schools; Barry Richburg, chief school leadership officer in Lexington, Ky.; Tangela Williams, North Learning Community superintendent; and Tonya Williams, executive director of the West Learning Community.

All of them will make make $184,384 a year, according to the contracts approved Tuesday.
Current learning community superintendents Raymond Barnes, Curtis Carroll, Acquanetta Edmond, Nicolette Grant and Trish Sexton are not part of the new team. It was not immediately clear whether they will leave CMS or be reassigned within the district.

Hill didn’t talk about the new structure at Tuesday’s school board meeting, where the board approved the contracts without discussion. She has previously said she thinks the new arrangement will provide better support for schools as the district zeroes in on improving reading, math and college/career preparation skills.

Hill came to CMS from Cabarrus County Schools. She started as chief of staff in May 2022 and was named interim superintendent at the end of that year. After a national search, the board votedlast May to hire her for the top job.

She has already replaced most of her cabinet with people she hired from outside the district.

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Updated: March 13, 2024 at 9:49 AM EDT
Updated to add salary information.
Ann Doss Helms has covered education in the Charlotte area for over 20 years, first at The Charlotte Observer and then at WFAE. Reach her at ahelms@wfae.org or 704-926-3859.