3 OKC principals plan to leave district

Three elementary principals are leaving Oklahoma City Public Schools, including the leader of a popular community school that faced closure, The Oklahoman has learned.

The resignations of Alisa Stieg (Edgemere); Neal Johnson (Greystone); and Katherine Price (Jackson) are effective June 30, spokeswoman Beth Harrison said Wednesday.

“District leaders are currently evaluating options for who will lead these schools next year,” Harrison said.

The departures could be the first of many for a district that replaced principals at 19 schools after the 2016-17 school year.

Steig, 30, of Norman, is returning to Norman Public Schools, where she was a finalist for Teacher of the Year in 2008. She will become the new principal of Kennedy Elementary, succeeding Craig Stevens, who is retiring.

Stieg is credited with turning around Edgemere, 3200 N Walker Ave., which has benefited from an influx of services and support that includes after-school art and science programs, tutoring, and a family therapist.

“We are devastated to see her go but we can’t help but be happy for her,” said Kelly Pearson, founder of the school’s support organization. “She has done so much to improve the school. Her caring attitude and positivity was contagious!”

In March 2017, Edgemere was one of four elementary schools with low enrollments targeted for closure by then-Superintendent Aurora Lora, a plan that failed.

Johnson is leaving Greystone, 2401 NW 115 Terrace, after one year. He came to the district with a reputation for turning around urban elementary schools in the Moore and Midwest City-Del City districts.

He has accepted a position in the Kansas City, Missouri, area.

“The difference in academic programs, funding, benefits, retirement, class size numbers, and overall education for our own children far exceed anything possible at this time in Oklahoma,” he said in an email. “This move saddens us but we must live the American dream in another state.”

Price is the interim principal at Jackson Enterprise Elementary, 2601 S Villa, one of three district schools considering a name change. The schools are named after Confederate officers.

Price, named interim principal during the current school year, which ends May 31, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.