Retiring Prince George school superintendent named acting chief for Hanover County schools

A week before her retirement was to become official, the superintendent of the Prince George County school system has taken on a similar position in metro Richmond, albeit interim for now.

Tuesday night, the Hanover County School Board announced it had chosen Dr. Lisa Pennycuff as the system’s acting superintendent. She succeeds Dr. Michael Gill, whose resignation was accepted at the same time Pennycuff’s appointment was accepted.

Gill’s resignation will be effective Aug. 5. Pennycuff’s retirement date from Prince George County is July 31.

In a statement released by the school system, Pennycuff said she welcomed the opportunity “to join the team of outstanding educators to serve the children, families, and community.” In the statement, she added she was “excited to engage and build relationships with everyone, and to support the county through this transition.”

Gill announced his resignation earlier this month after a decade in Hanover, first as an assistant superintendent in 2014, then becoming schools chief the following year.

In a message to the school system, Gill said he stepped down because the system "has new goals and objectives it wishes to achieve.” For that to happen, “a new leader is needed to work with the Board in these future endeavors," he wrote.

Pennycuff has spent the past 30 years in education. She came to Prince George nine years ago from York County.

When she announced her retirement, she said she was doing so to take care of her aging mother.

At more than 17,000 students, Hanover's school population is almost three times that of Prince George. It has 25 schools to Prince George's seven.

Carousel of change

Pennycuff’s departure was part of a merry-go-round of school superintendents changing jobs in the Tri-City area this year.

In March, Petersburg superintendent Dr. Tamara Sterling left somewhat acrimonously after 15 months on the job. She was temporarily replaced as acting chief by former North Carolina school superintendent Dr. John Farrelly, who was hired last year as Petersburg schools’ chief of staff.

In June, Farrelly resigned from Petersburg to take the finance director’s job with Caroline County Public Schools. With the help of the state Department of Education, the Petersburg School Board signed former Atlanta schools’ chief academic officer Yolonda Brown to a short-term contract that is set to end Oct. 31.

Brown has not ruled out the possibility of applying for the position full-time.

In Prince George, the School Board appointed former Colonial Heights school superintendent Dr. Joe Cox as acting superintendent while it searches for a permanent replacement. Ironically, Cox is an at-large candidate for the Colonial Heights School Board in this November’s election.

Bill Atkinson (he/him/his) is an award-winning journalist who covers breaking news, government and politics. Reach him at [email protected] or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @BAtkinson_PI.

This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Prince George superintendent takes temporary helm in Hanover