The Rowan-Salisbury Board of Education announced new principals for Carson and North Rowan high schools Monday.
Superintendent Dr. Lynn Moody said she looks for energy, diversity and execution when hiring.
“I want people to bring a variety of things to the table,” she said.
Angelo DelliSanti was selected from 40 applicants to become principal of Jesse C. Carson High School, and Fateama Fulmore was selected from 30 applicants to become principal of North Rowan High School.
DelliSanti is an assistant principal at Mooresville Middle School, in the Mooresville Graded School District.
Before taking that position in 2012, he was a transition coordinator for the Kannapolis Alternative Learning Center with Kannapolis City Schools for one year, and a teacher at A.L. Brown High School from 2007 to 2012.
DelliSanti received his bachelor’s degrees in history and secondary education and his master’s degree in school administration from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where he is currently working on his doctorate of education in educational leadership.
“I understand Carson is a really good school that can be one of the best schools in North Carolina,” he said, adding that he hopes to help the school continue on the path it’s already on and successfully implement the district’s literacy and technology plans.
A.L. Brown and the Mooresville Graded School District have already implemented one-to-one technological conversions, where each student has a digital device to use throughout the school year.
“I’m very comfortable with it,” DelliSanti said.
He added that using problem based learning to get students involved in real-life problems “is going to be a game changer” for Carson.
“I’m very excited about the direction Rowan-Salisbury is going in general,” he said.
DelliSanti, a graduate of A.L. Brown, is married to Kasey DelliSanti, and they have a chocolate lab named Bear.
He succeeds Kelly Withers, who is leaving Carson to take over as principal at South Rowan.
Fulmore has been an assistant principal in the Cabarrus County School System since 2010. She is currently at J.N. Fries Magnet School. She was an assistant principal at Concord High School from 2010 until 2013.
From 2007 until 2010, Fulmore was a business education teacher at A.L. Brown in Kannapolis, and from 2002 to 2006, she taught at Ransom Middle School with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools.
Fulmore received her bachelor’s degree in business administration from Appalachian State University and her master’s of school administration from Gardner-Webb University. She is working on her doctorate of education in organizational leadership through Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, Ariz.
Fulmore said North Rowan interested her because “it’s a school that’s rich in tradition with a lot of pride and a strong sense of community.”
Fulmore said she’s a visionary and strong relationship builder.
“I’m all about building partnerships and relationships that work in the best interest of the students I serve,” she said.
Fulmore said North Rowan’s academic achievement is lower than she would like.
“Most importantly, I would like to see improvement in student achievement,” she said, adding that she wants to help build a “culture of excellence” in everything the school does.
Fulmore is originally from Brooklyn, N.Y., but has lived in the Charlotte area since high school.
She succeeds Darrell McDowell at North Rowan.
DelliSanti and Fulmore worked together as teachers at A.L. Brown from 2007 until 2010.
In addition to naming DelliSanti and Fulmore to their positions, the school board began a multi-year process of reviewing board policies to make sure they are up to date. The board will conduct a first reading on all the policies at their next business meeting.
Due to decreased funding, four teacher assistants from two separate elementary schools will not be given contracts to return next year.
Human Resources Director Kristi Rhone said the hope is to be able to bring each of those teacher assistants back at the end of the summer, but at this point, the district doesn’t have the funds to award contracts.
In order to make the cutting process objective, the human resources department devised a process to cut out subjectivity.
The board approved the process after raising the weight of performance to be equal with experience and having an advanced degree.
During closed session, the board discussed emergency plans and responses through Safe Havens International.