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Two senior administrators at the Thames Valley District school board have left to take jobs with other Southwestern Ontario school systems.
Riley Culhane was formerly second-in-command as one of two associate directors at the London-area board. He is moving to the Avon Maitland District school board in a new role as superintendent. It oversees schools in Huron and Perth counties, including in Stratford.
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Tracy Langelaan is a former principal at H.B. Beal and Oakridge secondary schools whose portfolio as Thames Valley superintendent included alternative learning. She is leaving that job to assume a similar position at the London District Catholic school board.
“Turnover in the education sector has been extraordinarily high over the last four years, with 60 per cent turnover of superintendents provincially,” said Linda Nicholls, Thames Valley’s associate director.
“At Thames Valley we have been well below the provincial average with a turnover of two senior leaders out of 19 during the same period of time,” she said. “Thames Valley wishes both Riley and Tracy well as they embark on their respective new positions.”
Culhane, who is being replaced by former Thames Valley superintendent Andrew Canham, has been appointed the lead for the kindergarten to Grade 12 department, and will oversee some schools, according to a statement Friday from the Avon Maitland board.
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Graham Shantz, director of education at Avon Maitland, said the board was “thrilled” to welcome Culhane, who had been a senior leader for 11 years with Thames Valley. He worked as a speech pathologist and child and youth worker before becoming a teacher and principal after joining Thames Valley in 2000.
Culhane’s salary while at the Thames board was $264,000 in 2023, according to Ontario’s list of public sector workers who make more than $100,000.
Langelaan began her teaching career with the Huron Perth Catholic District school board in 1998, according to her biography posted online by the London Catholic board. She transferred to Thames Valley as a secondary school teacher in 2001.
In 2020, she joined the board’s senior leadership team as a superintendent. Langelaan’s salary was $217,000 in 2023.
The Thames Valley board has faced criticism for its approval of a $1.2-billion budget for the 2024-25 school year with a $7.6-million deficit. The board is taking several measures, including the elimination of 124 positions and slashing funding for school trips and textbooks, to reduce the deficit that at one time was projected to be $30 million.
The major drivers of the deficit are unfunded statutory benefits, unfunded short-term supply staff costs for absences and a lack of funding for special education costs, board officials have said.
Thames Valley is Ontario’s fourth-largest school board, with roughly 84,000 students at 160 schools.
The London District Catholic school board is home to 27,500 students at 53 schools.
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