Manatee County has a new high school principal, district announces in latest change

The Manatee school district has announced a new leader for Palmetto High School, continuing a string of leadership changes at campuses throughout the county.

Monica DeLesline, an assistant principal at Palmetto High since 2017, will become the school’s principal on July 1, 2021. DeLesline joined the school district in 1995 as an exceptional student education (ESE) teacher for Bayshore High School, according to the district.

She later worked as an ESE teacher, testing coordinator and activities director at Palmetto High from 2001 to 2006. And from 2012 to 2017, DeLesline served as an assistant principal at Braden River High.

When the district announced more than half a dozen principal changes in mid-April, Palmetto High School was left in limbo. Its former leader, Carl Auckerman, was declared the new head of Braden River High School, leaving Palmetto High with a vacancy in the principal’s office.

DeLesline will fill that vacancy in the 2021-22 school year, the district said.

Last month’s changes also left a vacancy at the district level. Lourdes Gonzalez, the director of secondary curriculum for Manatee County schools since February 2020, will soon become the principal of Manatee Elementary School.

According to the district’s latest announcement, Sarasota Middle School’s principal, Laurie Breslin, will make her return to Manatee County and work as the new director of secondary curriculum.

Breslin also worked as an assistant principal at Sarasota’s Booker High School from 2017 to 2018, after spending more than a decade in Manatee County schools. She worked as a teacher in local schools from 2002 to 2010, as an assistant principal for Manatee High from 2010 to 2016, and as an assistant principal for Palmetto High in 2017.

“We feel extremely fortunate to find such high-quality candidates to fill both of these positions,” Superintendent Cynthia Saunders said in a statement. “Both of these individuals bring extensive Manatee County experience to their new roles and I am excited about the contributions they will make.”

This story was originally published May 5, 2021 at 11:18 AM.