A year and a half ago, veteran principal Rhonda Hunt faced the Lake County School Board and tearfully pleaded not to be transferred from her highly-rated school to low-ranked Eustis Heights Elementary.
She was happy at Lost Lake Elementary in Clermont, which improved under her leadership from a B grade from the state in 2013 to an A in 2014. Hunt wasn’t looking to move schools just two years from retirement.
“I was in my comfort zone,” Hunt said. “I had built the culture and the climate of the school. It was comfortable.”
But School Board members upheld her transfer on a 4-1 vote at an emotional meeting during which supporters chanted “We want Mrs. Hunt!” It turned out to be a career-defining move. Last week, Hunt was named the state’s Principal of the Year for turning around Eustis Heights, a school in a high-poverty area that improved from an F her first year to a C when the state’s report card for the 2014-15 school year was released Friday.
After failing in her effort to thwart the transfer ordered by Superintendent Susan Moxley, Hunt dove headfirst into a new challenge. More than half of the school of 600 was not performing at grade level and 87 percent of the students qualify for free and reduced lunch.
She persuaded School Board members to allow her to move her Lost Lake Elementary leadership team, including Assistant Principal Chad Frazier, to her new school, as well as allotting her an extra assistant principal and guidance counselor.
“The kids here, they really need us,” said Frazier, who was one of three finalists for Assistant Principal of the Year. “They need a teacher that cares, they really need a principal and an assistant principal that are going to try and move mountains to give them a free and appropriate education.”
School Board member Stephanie Luke, a math and science instructor at the University of Central Florida who began her career as a teacher in Lake, has seen the Eustis Heights Elementary transformation firsthand.
“They’ve been working tirelessly over the last year and a half and boy it’s nice to hear some of the things that they’re being awarded,” Luke said.
Hunt, 66, asked for, and received, a dress-code waiver to allow for uniforms “to help build a new school culture.” That drew the ire of some cash-strapped parents who couldn’t afford purchasing new clothes.
To address those worries, the school raised more than $10,000 in six weeks to help get the initiative off the ground.
She learned many students arrived to school without having breakfast, so she started a hot-breakfast program. She also helped start programs for parents and grandparents to learn how to help students with academic growth.
“The first thing we really knew was that the morale was low,” Hunt said. “The morale was low among the staff, and it was low among the children.”
Their self-esteem was boosted by a project that had been in the works before Hunt arrived. In May, a new $14.6 million, 93,000-square-foot school opened, replacing an aging facility that had cramped classrooms and lacked up-to-date wiring and amenities. Each classroom in the new school is equipped with a 65-inch high-definition TV with touch-screen overlay.
As a part of the changing culture, Hunt overhauled her staff by hiring 20 new teachers, a decision that was opposed by some parents who had positive experiences with teachers who were replaced.
“People don’t realize that it’s the teachers inside that make a school,” said Karen Church, the parent of a fourth grader at the school. “A principal doesn’t make a school.”
Other parental complaints include that Hunt just hired teachers she knew and that she was “dismissive.”
“Mrs. Hunt is very cliquish,” said Kevin Foster, whose daughter used to attend Eustis Heights. “If you aren’t in that group, you better watch out for your job.”
Hunt attributes the “naysayers” as a product of so much change in a short period.
“Change is hard,” Hunt said. “There are always parents that support certain teachers and they have their own opinions. I’ve had to make some tough decisions, and there are people who don’t like it.”
Despite all the change, what remained the same with Hunt is the academic rigor, and building relationships with students, both staples of her career.
She was born in Illinois, where she also got her start as an administrator. She and her husband moved to Central Florida about 11 years ago, and took a job as a teacher for a year at Metrowest Elementary School in Orlando, before landing a principal position at Lost Lake.
Hunt eventually transitioned to a curriculum director position with the Lake district. After entering the state’s deferred-retirement program, she requested to return to a school as a principal, ended up back at Lost Lake Elementary, where she figured she would finish her career.
But then came the curveball that sent her to Eustis Heights.
She told School Board members at a June 2014 meeting, “I’m the wrong person to go to Eustis Heights. In two years you can’t build the community.”
But she did it. Now, she is basking in what she’s accomplished at the school.
“Having the accolades is really nice,” said Hunt, whose honor as the state’s top teacher comes with a $5,000 cash prize while the school gets $1,000. “But our accolades are seeing the kids come to school every day and the passion they have for learning. That’s what we’ve turned around in this school.”
rygillespie@orlandosentinel.com or 352-742-5927