Wayne School Board Approves Personnel Changes

The Wayne County Board of Education has approved leadership personnel changes for the district’s administrative offices.

Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum & Instruction, Dean Sauls, will be the Assistant Superintendent for Support Services, focusing on transportation, maintenance, and athletics while also staying involved in curriculum and instruction. Mr. Sauls has 39 years of education experience and has served in his present position since January of this year. Mr. Sauls began his teaching career at Central Academic School in Raleigh in 1976 and joined Wayne County Public Schools the following year as a teacher at Norwayne Junior High. Since then, he has taught and served as athletic director at Charles B. Aycock High School; worked as WCPS Director of Secondary Education, Health/Physical Education, Social Studies, and Drivers Eligibility; and served as principal of Rosewood High.

North Carolina Department of Public Instruction Regional Support Lead, Tamara Ishee, will be the Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum & Instruction. Ms. Ishee has 21 years of education experience and has served with the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction since 2008 in both her present position and as a High School Portfolio Manager. Ms. Ishee began her education career in 1993 as a high school social studies/English instructor in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Since then, she has worked as the Head of Upper School for a charter school in Lawrence, Massachusetts; served as an assistant principal with Carteret High School in Beaufort, North Carolina; and was the Director of Middle and Secondary Education for Carteret County Public Schools. Ms. Ishee holds a bachelor’s degree in history with a concentration in creative writing from the University of Massachusetts and a master’s degree in school leadership from Harvard University.

Chief Academic Officer and Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction for Danville County Public Schools in Danville Virginia, Yvette Smith, will be the district’s new Assistant Superintendent for Human Resource Services. Ms. Smith will fill the vacancy left by Dr. Marvin McCoy who resigned earlier this year. Ms. Smith began her education career with Wayne County Public Schools in 1993 as a teacher at North East Elementary School. Since then she has worked as an assistant principal at Northeast Elementary; served as a principal with Durham Public Schools; served as an Education Consultant with the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction; served as an Instructional Support Consultant with the United States Department of Education; and was the director of secondary education-Title I with Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools in Charlotte, North Carolina. Ms. Smith holds both a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from North Carolina Central University. She holds master’s degree in school administration from Campbell University. She holds an educational leadership specialist degree from Wingate University. This fall, Ms. Smith will complete a doctorate degree in educational leadership and supervision from Wingate University.

“I am very excited to bring Ms. Ishee and Ms. Smith to Wayne County Public Schools in these leadership positions,” Superintendent Dr. Michael Dunsmore said. “Both bring extensive professional educational and administration experience with a high concentration in curriculum and instruction. These personnel changes, along with the addition of a new Support Services department, reflect my goal to reorganize and realign administrative roles in order to better advance our schools and provide the highest level of support to our students and teachers.”

The personnel changes will take effect August 1.