Mooresville enters new school year with new superintendent

With longtime Superintendent Mark Edwards headed to the private sector, the Mooresville Graded School District has a new leader for the 2016-17 school year.

The school board recently promoted school system veteran Stephen Mauney to the post.

Mauney, a 1991 Davidson College graduate, has been an administrator in the district since 1999, when he became an assistant principal at Mooresville High. He previously taught history for six years at the school.

Mauney, a North Carolina native, most recently was executive director of secondary education and career and technical education in the Mooresville district.

Edwards announced this summer that he is leaving public education this month to become senior vice president of digital learning with Discovery Education’s Charlotte office. He will continue to live in Mooresville.

Edwards was Mooresville’s superintendent for nine years and was named national superintendent of the year in 2013.

In June 2013, President Obama visited Mooresville Middle School to announce a plan to connect nearly every U.S. classroom to high-speed internet.

Edwards led the district’s digital conversion with impressive results: the district’s academic achievements have ranked in the top three in the state the past five years while the district’s graduation rank held steady at 90 percent.

“Although change and transition can cause some turbulence, I know that we have a strong team in place that will continue to challenge our students to achieve great things,” Mauney posted on the district’s Facebook page. “We are a student-centered district that believes that every child matters and deserves to be educated in an environment that radiates respect and caring.”

This story was originally published August 18, 2016 at 3:21 PM with the headline "Mooresville enters new school year with new superintendent."