Durham Public Schools Makes New Hires

Durham Public Schools is beefing up its "dream team" with new appointments.

The Durham Public Schools Board of Education today appointed three individuals to key district leadership positions while Superintendent Eric J. Becoats named a new principal for City of Medicine Academy.

Aaron Beulieu was named chief financial officer. Beulieu comes to DPS from Pitt County Schools, where he served since 1991 with increasing responsibility as director of accounting, finance officer, associate superintendent for operational and financial services, and associate superintendent for operational services. Beulieu holds a Bachelor of Science in accounting from East Carolina University.

Evia Nelson was named executive director of construction and planning. Nelson was previously a senior project manager for the KBR Building Group from 2004, managing Construction Manager at Risk projects for facilities at UNC-Chapel Hill and NC State. Nelson was also a project manager for Skanska USA Building Inc., where she worked on numerous school projects in Wake County. She has a Bachelor of Environmental Design in architecture, cum laude, from NC State and an executive certificate in financial planning from Duke University.

Elizabeth Shearer was named executive director of leadership development. She is a longtime DPS principal, most recently at City of Medicine Academy, where in 2011 she was named Wachovia NC Regional Principal of the Year. She also led Lakewood Elementary and E.K. Powe elementary schools, and was a program administrator at Hillside High School. She has completed her doctoral coursework in educational leadership at NC State, earned her Master of Education in special education from UNC-Chapel Hill, and a Bachelor of Art in English and Philosophy from the University of York in England.

To ensure a smooth transition for City of Medicine Academy, which opens in early August, Dr. Becoats named Jackie Tobias as its principal. Tobias has been principal at Riverside High School since 2010. Before that she was assistant principal at Lexington Senior High School and worked in high schools in Thomasville, High Point, and Burlington, NC. She has a Master of School Administration from UNC-Greensboro, and a Master and Bachelor of Arts in Education from the University of Florida. She was certified in 2005 by the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards.

District administrators are currently working with Riverside High School’s Principal Search and Interview Committee to identify candidates to become the school’s next principal.

Learn more about education in Durham at www.durham-nc.com.