Sean Stranger tapped as McKinley principal amid staffing shakeup at Canton City Schools

CANTON − McKinley High School will have a new principal this fall, as part of a significant administrative shakeup that affects the leadership of at least five schools and includes the return of two former teachers.

Sean Stranger, currently one of McKinley’s assistant principals, will become campus principal starting Aug. 1. McKinley’s main campus enrolls 1,500 of the high school’s 2,100 students, which ranks among the top 15 largest traditional public high schools in Ohio.

Stranger replaces Jonas Wertin, who will become the district’s student information and systems coordinator, where he will be responsible for the collection and reporting of student data. Superintendent Jeff Talbert said the district previously had a similar position but didn’t fill it after Fred Dawson left in 2019. Wertin’s salary will remain unchanged.

Stranger has been with the district since 1996, holding various roles such as physical education teacher, athletic director, assistant principal and director of sports, recreation and physical education. He will earn $122,726 a year as McKinley’s campus principal.

“What’s good about Sean is that he’s a people person,” Talbert said. “He wants to remove barriers for folks. He works really hard to help people be successful at their jobs.”

Tamiko Hatcher leaves Akron to return to his roots

Tamiko Hatcher, who began his career in 1998 as a sixth grade science teacher at Lehman Middle School, has been hired as director of career prep innovations, pathways and partnerships. Hatcher, who has served as an assistant principal in Alliance and Maple Heights school districts and as an associate principal and head principal at Plain Local’s GlenOak High School, has worked as the director of special programs for the Akron Public Schools since 2016.

Hatcher’s three-year contract begins Aug. 1. He will earn $118,826 a year.

Talbert said Hatcher will be tasked with growing enrollment in the district’s existing career-technical programs and adding new programs that can train students in a cross-section of skills. He also will be responsible for creating programs at younger grade levels that prepare students for the high school career-technical programs.

Talbert said giving students the training they need for a paying job immediately after graduation will help even those students who choose to pursue a college degree.

“With the rise in the cost of a college education, the student that is not working while they are going through school is quickly disappearing,” Talbert said. “Being able to give our students the abilities and the skill sets they need to be gainfully employed while getting that post-secondary degree is something we should look to do.”

Hatcher said he’s looking forward to working in Stark County once again.

“I can’t say enough about what I see taking place here in downtown Canton,” Hatcher said. “To provide the students here with an opportunity to move from (career) pathway to prosperity is exciting to me.”

New campus administrator at Timken Career Campus

Robert Crone, principal at Crenshaw Middle School, will become the Timken Career Campus administrator on Aug. 1. Talbert said Crone will be responsible for the overall operations, maintenance and security of the Timken campus, which will be home this fall to more career-technical students, all Bulldog Virtual Academy students, Adult Education students, Choices High School, central office staff, student services employees, custodians and food service staff. His salary will remain the same.

Canton schools' last big reshuffling McKinley principal out in shakeup at Canton City Schools

Crone’s transfer set in motion a series of changes:

• Angela Seders, principal at McGregor Elementary, will take the place of Crone as principal at Crenshaw.

• Julie Addessi, assistant principal at Worley Elementary, will replace Seders as principal at McGregor.

• Kim Springer, assistant principal at Crenshaw, will succeed Addessi as assistant principal at Worley.

• Jason Oden, principal at Compton Learning Center, will replace Springer as Crenshaw’s assistant principal.

• Sherri Kitzmiller, district discipline hearing officer, will become the principal at Compton Learning Center. Kitzmiller’s role will not be filled, Talbert said.

• Allan Brown, a curriculum specialist, will become an assistant principal at McKinley. He succeeds Jennifer Morgan who will become an assistant principal at STEAMM Academy at Harford.

• Morgan will take over for Bobbie Grimm who will become principal of Choices High School.

• Grimm replaces Pamela Bernabei-Rorrer who will return to the teaching ranks and become a district math coach.

• Aaron DeHart will join the district as an assistant principal at McKinley Senior High School. DeHart, who had been a Canton City teacher from 2001 to 2011, has been an academy principal for Akron City Schools for eight years. He will replace Isaiah Wyatt who has left the district to be the assistant principal at Shaker Heights Schools’ Innovative Center for Personalized Learning.

Reach Repository writer Kelli Weir at 330-580-8339 or kelli.weir@cantonrep.com.

On Twitter: @kweirREP

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Canton schools names Sean Stranger as McKinley principal amid shakeup