Doctor Rivera: Board names new principals, assistant principals and district coordinators ahead of school year

Doctor Rivera provided a July update for MESQUITE ISD and said the board approved a slate of personnel appointments at a July 13 meeting, filling principal, assistant principal and coordinator roles across the district.

Rivera said the board hired Audrey Smallwood as director of advanced academics (joining from Garland) and named Ty Belt as the new coordinator for social studies. "We hired Audrey Smallwood for director of advanced academics," Rivera said when summarizing the personnel actions.

The board named several new principals, including Dr. Rhonda McGuire at Cross Elementary; Carolyn Doherty at Loring's Elementary; Patrick Haney at David R. (Vanguard High School); and Dr. Leticia Brown at Porter Elementary, who replaces a recently retired principal. Rivera also announced roughly two dozen assistant principal appointments across elementary and middle schools, including Thomas Smiley and LaKendra McNeely at Gentry Elementary; Danielle Knox at McDonald Middle School; and Dominika Phipps at West Mesquite High School.

Rivera described the list of hires as substantial and said the appointments position campuses for the upcoming year. "Those were the appointments for last night," she said, noting there were many.

The district update did not include formal vote tallies or mover/second names for the personnel approvals; Rivera presented the appointments as actions taken at the prior-night board meeting. Next steps for the appointees—start dates or contract details—were not specified in the update.

Rivera closed by wishing staff and families well for the remaining weeks of summer.