School gets fourth principal in less than a year

A fourth administrator has taken over the role of principal of Ooltewah Elementary School in less than a year.

Karen Hollis, a longtime Hamilton County Schools employee, has been named principal of Ooltewah Elementary School in light of former Principal Frank Fischel’s resignation this week.

Hollis came out of retirement to take the role. She had retired from her role as director of elementary teaching and learning for the district at the end of the 2018-19 school year.

Fischel had served as principal of the elementary school only since February. He had moved to Hamilton County after serving as principal of Mountain View Elementary in Flanders, New Jersey, from 2010 to 2018.

Before Fischel assumed the role, another educator had come out of retirement to serve as interim principal. Former Westview Principal Margo Williams took the temporary post after former Principal Tom Arnold was removed from his position.

Arnold was suspended for 10 days in October 2018 and then was reassigned as assistant principal at East Ridge Middle after an internal investigation found he had an inappropriate relationship with a colleague.

Hollis will serve as principal for the reminder of the school year, according to a news release from the district.

Before joining district administration at the central office in 2011, Hollis was an award-winning teacher and principal.

She taught at Howard Elementary School from 1988 to 2001 and was named the school’s Teacher of the Year in 1990.

From 2001 to 2006, she served as assistant principal at Hardy Elementary. She was named principal of Ganns Middle Valley Elementary School in 2006 and was named the 2008- 09 PTA Principal of the Year, the 2011 Hamilton County Schools Principal of the Year and the 2011 Tennessee Southeast Region Principal of the Year.