SALISBURY — Rodney Burton, principal at Knox Middle School, is stepping down for “personal reasons,” Rowan-Salisbury School System spokeswoman Rita Foil said today.
“Mr. Burton requested to be moved to an assistant principal’s position for personal reasons. Our district has honored that request,”?Foil wrote in an email in response to an inquiry from the Post.
Burton will be an assistant principal at China Grove Elementary School, a job that has been filled on an interim basis by Larry Britt, a retired school system employee, Foil said.
Today is a teacher work day for the school system and students are not in classes. When Knox students return Monday, Larry Brown will be in place as their interim principal, Foil said.
Brown, who retired as an assistant principal at Bostian Elementary, served as interim principal at Knox Middle in 2009 after former principal Gerald MoragneEl resigned, also citing personal reasons. Burton took the job in October 2009.
Brown has also served as an interim principal at  North Rowan and Erwin middle schools. He will be at Knox until the school system names a new principal Foil said. The job will be advertised starting Monday and could take up to a couple of months to fill.
“We are fortunate to have Mr. Brown’s leadership and school experience to carry us through this transition,” Foil said.