The Chapel Hill Carrboro Board of Education named Thomas Forcella as its next superintendent and its meeting Thursday.
Forcella, who is currently superintendent for Guilford Public Schools in Connecticut, said he was grateful and excited for the opportunity.
“You will all find out quickly that I believe a positive culture that places the emphasis on student learning is critical,” he said.
Forcella replaces current superintendent Neil Pedersen, who announced in August he would retire at the end of the 2010-2011 school year.
“This has been a 24-7 job with lots of late nights,” he said in an August interview. “I’d like to disrupt my routine and change the type of work I’m doing.”
Pedersen came to Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools in 1987 as an assistant superintendent. During his term, Pedersen saw more than half of the system’s 17 schools constructed and established the first nationally certified environmentally-friendly school in the southeast—Smith Middle School.
Pedersen is the longest-serving superintendent in the school district’s history.
