Saracini to take state agency job

Karli Saracini, assistant superintendent and director of secondary education in the North Little Rock School District, has been named assistant commissioner for educator effectiveness and licensure in the Arkansas Division of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Saracini will assume the new role Jan. 2. She will replace Suzanne Bailey in the position.

The new job is a return to the state agency for Saracini. She was the director of educator licensure, a position she held from June 2013 until July 2015 when she moved to the North Little Rock district to be the executive director of human resources, a position she held until August 2018 when she became the assistant superintendent.

Saracini was the principal at Harrisburg Middle School from July 2003 to June 2013. She was a kindergarten-through-12th-grade curriculum coordinator, an assistant principal, and principal in the Newport School District. A former teacher in the Little Rock, West Fork and Marked Tree districts, Saracini currently is an adjunct professor at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway.

Her bachelor’s degree in early childhood education is from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, and she has a master’s degree in educational leadership from Arkansas State University in Jonesboro.

Arkansas Education Secretary Johnny Key said Saracini, who developed an online licensure application system for the state agency, has an abounding commitment to education.

“She is focused on doing what is best for students, promotes community involvement in education, and is great at anticipating and solving problems,” Key said.