Manatee School District announces principal changes for the next school year

Leadership changes are coming to Manatee High, Anna Maria Elementary and other district schools and offices in the 2021-22 school year, which begins in August.

The School District of Manatee County announced the leadership changes in a news release on Wednesday afternoon. The new positions are expected to take effect on July 1.

“We have an outstanding team of professional educators leading our schools and school support departments,” Superintendent Cynthia Saunders said in a prepared statement.

“While it is sad to say goodbye to dedicated educators like Jackie Featherston, Dr. Lynn Menard and Mike McCann — who contributed a combined 100 years of service to our school district — we are excited about the opportunities that lay before us as we move forward together,” she continued.

Manatee High and Braden River High

David Underhill, the principal of Manatee High School since July 2017, will become a district-level administrator when he assumes the role of drop-out prevention coordinator for Manatee County schools.

That position is opening with the retirement of McCann, who joined the school district in 1991. He worked in drop-out prevention for the last 25 years, according to Wednesday’s announcement.

Along with leading Manatee High for the last several years, Underhill also has experience as the principal of Bayshore High School, where he worked from 2000 to 2017.

Sharon Scarbrough, the principal of Braden River High since July 2017, will become the next principal at Manatee High, filling the vacancy left by Underhill.

Scarbrough joined the district in 1995 and became a school administrator at several campuses.

After working as an assistant principal at Haile Middle and Buffalo Creek Middle from 2004 to 2009, she served as the principal of Sugg Middle and then Haile Middle from 2009 to 2017.

As she leaves to fill the open position at Manatee High, another local principal will have to fill the vacancy created at Braden River High. That person is Carl Auckerman, the principal of Palmetto High School since July 2016, the district said in its news release.

Auckerman joined the school district in 1998 and went on to become an assistant principal at Southeast High, Palmetto High and Bayshore High between 2002 and 2010. He also worked at the former Central High School as its principal from 2010 to 2013, and as the principal of Johnson Middle from 2013 to 2016.

His move to become the principal at Braden River High creates a vacancy at Palmetto High, a void the district will fill “at a later date,” the news release states.

Manatee, Prine and Sea Breeze elementary schools

Greg Sander, the principal at Sea Breeze Elementary School since July 2015, will become the new principal at Prine Elementary School following the retirement of Menard.

Sander previously worked as an assistant principal for the former Wakeland Elementary School and the former Orange Ridge-Bullock Elementary School between 2010 and 2015.

Tami VanOverbeke, the principal of Manatee Elementary School since 2017, will become the new principal at Sea Breeze Elementary, filling the vacancy left by Sander.

VanOverbeke helped Manatee Elementary School evolve into a Community Partnership School, which involves new long-term relationships with USF Sarasota-Manatee, MCR Health and the Children’s Home Society of Florida.

Filling her position at Manatee Elementary is Lourdes Gonzalez, the director of secondary curriculum and instruction for Manatee County schools since February 2020.

Gonzalez will serve as the next principal at Manatee Elementary and her current district-level position will be filled at a later date.

Bashaw Elementary

Mario Mendoza, the principal of Bashaw Elementary School since July 2019, will become a district-level administrator when he assumes the role of migrant education coordinator.

Mendoza worked as an assistant principal at Bayshore Elementary from 2011 to 2012, and as principal of the former Wakeland Elementary from 2012 to 2019, the district said.

James Dougherty, an assistant principal at Palm View K-8 since July 2017, will become the next principal at Bashaw Elementary School, taking Mendoza’s place in the new school year.

Dougherty joined the school district in 2008 and worked as a student support specialist at Rogers Garden-Bullock Elementary from 2014 to 2017.

Ballard and Anna Maria elementary schools

Mike Masiello, the principal of Ballard Elementary School since July 2016, will become the principal of Anna Maria Elementary School now that Featherston is retiring.

Masiello, a district employee since 1996, also worked as the assistant principal for Bayshore Elementary from 2012 to 2016.

Rudy Keezer, an assistant principal at Ballard Elementary since July 2018, is slated to become Ballard’s next principal, “pending school board approval,” according to the news release.

Keezer also worked as a curriculum specialist for Manatee schools in 2017.

This story was originally published April 14, 2021 at 4:06 PM.