by Tori Hamby

With a new superintendent comes new leadership.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Superintendent Heath Morrison, who officially began his job July 1, filled two vacant positions, expanded two current positions and named a new Alexander Middle School principal Monday, July 9, after being sworn into office.

“To take our district from good to great, we need an executive team that is bold and visionary – and these people were chosen from a nationwide pool,” Morrison said in a statement.

Millard L. House II, deputy superintendent of Tulsa Public Schools in Oklahoma, was named chief operating officer. Frank D. Barnes, chief accountability officer of Boston Public Schools, will serve as chief accountability officer for the district.

Both men will make $160,000 a year.

The district’s chief academic officer and former superintendent candidate Ann Clark, Morrison announced, will serve as deputy superintendent. Clark will oversee the human resources and accountability departments, as well as her current duties of directing curriculum, instruction and schools

Morrison also expanded the position of executive coordinator for the superintendent, held by Earnest Winston, to superintendent’s chief of staff.

“Ann brings a formidable institutional knowledge to the deputy’s job and Earnest has been involved in teaching, public information and the superintendent’s office in his career with CMS,” Morrison said.

Clark will make $190,000 a year and Winston will make $130,000 a year. Their former positions will not be filled at this time, Morrison said.

Morrison has yet to fill three jobs, including one executive position – chief information officer – which he said he plans to fill “soon.”

The superintendent also appointed Angela Richardson, an assistant principal at Martin Luther King Middle School, as principal of J.M. Alexander Middle School in Huntersville. The East Mecklenburg High School graduate has worked for the school district since 1993.

Morrison has yet to appoint a principal for Bailey Middle School.