Superintendent Dr. Jon Rysewyk has named three new principals, with appointments effective July 2022.
Brad Corum, principal of Karns High School since 2016, has been transferred to Carter High School, replacing principal Angie Messer, who was appointed music and performing arts specialist for KCS. Corum applied for consideration in the search for a new superintendent to replace Bob Thomas, but he was not among the finalists.
Corum joined Knox County Schools in 1997 as a teacher at Karns High School. He began his career in administration in 2004, and has served as assistant principal at Powell Middle, Karns Middle and West Valley Middle schools.
In 2013, he was named principal of Karns Middle School, and in 2016, he was appointed principal of Karns High School, where he currently serves. He holds a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Tennessee and a master’s degree in education administration from Lincoln Memorial University.
Laicee Hatfield will replace Corum at Karns High School. She currently is principal of KCS Secondary Virtual Schools.
Hatfield joined Knox County Schools in 2005 as a teacher. She has served as assistant principal at Farragut High and Karns High since joining the administration in 2013. She holds an associate degree from Walters State Community College, a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry and cellular and molecular biology from the University of Tennessee, a master’s degree in secondary science from UT, and an education specialist degree from LMU.
Dr. Susan Hutton has been appointed principal of Brickey-McCloud Elementary School, replacing principal Megan O’Dell who was promoted to director of Region Three, which includes Carter and South-Doyle high schools.
Dr. Hutton worked for nine years as an elementary teacher and middle school AVID tutor in Newport News, Virginia. She began her career in administration in 2006 as an assistant principal at a math, science and technology magnet school in Yorktown, Virginia. She has also worked as an assistant principal and principal in Gastonia, North Carolina. In 2012, she was named principal of Yorktown Middle School, and in 2019, appointed principal of Dare Elementary School in Yorktown, where she currently serves.
She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of New Mexico, a master’s in the art of teaching from Christopher Newport University, and a doctorate in educational policy, planning and leadership from the College of William and Mary.
Previously announced principals include:
- Megan Blevins, from assistant principal to principal of Inskip Elementary School.
- Taiesha Young, from assistant principal to principal of Pond Gap Elementary School.
- James Slay, from assistant principal at Green Magnet to principal of Gap Creek Elementary School.
- Tiffany Watkins from Gap Creek to Spring Hill Elementary
- Trina Bruns from Pond Gap to Amherst Elementary
- Lynn Jacomen from Inskip to Hardin Valley Elementary
- Casey Cutter from Sam Houston in Maryville to Blue Grass Elementary
- Jamie Cantrill from Blue Grass to elementary staffing supervisor
- Sunny Poe Scheafnocker from Hardin Valley to new northwest elementary
- Kristen Jackson from assistant principal to principal at West Hills Elementary
- Josh Van Pelt from interim to full principal at Mooreland Heights Elementary
- Suzanne Parham from assistant principal at Karns Elementary to Farragut Intermediate
- Kimberly Harris from assistant principal at Northshore to principal at Bonny Kate
- Tracy Marsh from assistant principal at Beaumont to principal at A.L. Lotts.