Williamsport Area School Board Approves Multiple Moves For Administrators Throughout District

Harrisburg PA

07 April, 2022

3:33 PM

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By Jeremy Stout, NorthCentralPA.com April 7, 2022 The Williamsport Area School District Board voted April 5 to approve the move of multiple key administrators into different positions beginning at the start of the 2022-23 school year. According to the district, the changes were made as a result of scheduled retirements at the end of the school year. Williamsport High School Principal Dr. Brandon Pardoe will take over as the director of student services, replacing Dr. Richard Poole. Poole had been approved to take over as assistant superintendent in March from the retiring Dr. Susan Bigger. Pardoe has been with WASD since 2002 when he was hired as principal of Round Hills Elementary School. He then held the position middle school principal from 2007 until taking his current position as high school principal in 2014. Dr. Roger Freed will take over as high school principal, moving from his position as ninth-grade principal. Freed has worked in the district his entire academic career, starting as a math teacher at the high school in 2011 before becoming the secondary special education coordinator for the district in 2015. He briefly served as an assistant principal at Jackson Primary School prior to serving in his current role. Dr. Justin Ross will be moving from his current post as head principal of Williamsport Area Middle School to take the position of associate principal at the high school. Ross has been with the district for 17 years. Kirk Felix will be taking over Ross' role as WAMS head principal moving from Cochran Primary School, where he served as head principal. Theresa Montgomery will become the district's elementary curriculum supervisor. Montgomery has been with WASD since last fall but has spent 30 plus years in education. Erin Brouse will be taking over Montgomery's previous position as head principal of Jackson Primary School, moving from her current position at the school as assistant principal. Thaddeus Stevens Primary School Head Principal Jim Ellis will move to Cochran Primary in the same role. The future of Stevens Primary Even if Stevens Primary remains open, the fate of which was discussed at the board meeting in February as previously reported by the Sun-Gazette, Ellis will continue to serve as Cochran's prinicpal. The district will search for a principal if the school does remain open. A decision on the school's future will be made at the May 17 board meeting. District Superintendent Timothy Bowers said that few comments from the community have come to the board, but he urges people to make their thoughts on the issue known. "If you have an opinion one way or the other, please make that known to us," Bowers said. There are two more meetings, April 19 and May 3, before the decision on the school's future will be made, with public comments on the Stevens school being the first agenda item at each. The final administrative shift is Tristin Forney taking over as assistant principal at Lycoming Valley Intermediate School, moving from his current position as the building's dean of students. Bowers said he thanks all of the administrators that are taking on "more responsibility" and that this puts WASD to move forward in accomplishing the district's goals. Bowers said, "It takes administrators that are seasoned, that have already shown their skills and accomplishments, and rises them to even a greater level of impact throughout the district." NorthcentralPa.com provides the region with reliable, relevant, and real-time news, covering weather, community news and events, crime, police activity, local, regional, and national alerts, and PennDOT-reported road construction and conditions. We report on local and regional politics, offer a platform for nonprofits to report their news and events, and share obituaries. Scanner reports let readers know what's happening outside their homes the minute it happens.