Pasco elementary school gets new principal
Veteran Pasco County educator and school administrator Vanessa Hilton will take over leadership this week at Bexley Elementary School in Land O’Lakes.
Superintendent John Legg has assigned Hilton to replace Michelle Boylan, whom the school board recently approved to prepare Skybrooke K-8 for its opening next August. The move, which will go before the school board later this month, comes as part Legg’s effort to reorganize the superintendent’s cabinet to reflect his priorities.
Legg has said he expected to pay keen attention to the district’s academic side during his tenure.
Hilton, who joined the district in 1995 as a teacher, has been assistant superintendent for student achievement, which was renamed chief academic officer, since 2015. She also spent four years as district curriculum director and, before that, four years as principal of San Antonio Elementary.
San Antonio was consistently an A-rated school during Hilton’s time there.
“She is a talented school leader and academic leader,” deputy superintendent Betsy Kuhn said of Hilton.
Kuhn, who announced the shift to district officials on Monday, said the chief academic officer post will not be filled in the near term, as Legg continues to review his team. Others will pick up the work in the meantime, including efforts to implement state-required improvement plans at three schools.
“We have great people in this district. It’s (a question of), where do they fit best?” Kuhn said.
Hilton did not respond to requests for comment.
Aside from his appointments of Kuhn and Hilton, Legg has made only one additional personnel move since taking office Nov. 19. He named Lorenzo Graziano, a campaign aide, to the newly created position of community engagement liaison.
The decision to place Graziano into the post, which pays about $61,000 a year, without advertising it first rankled school board member Jessica Wright, who questioned the idea of creating a new job and filling it at the same meeting.
Wright also protested that the new job, which will deal with legislative issues and parent engagement at schools, pays about $15,000 more than a starting teacher earns. The board approved the move with Wright dissenting.
Jeffrey S. Solochek is an education reporter covering K-12 education policy and schools. Reach him at jsolochek@tampabay.com.