Portsmouth Hires Rear Admiral As Interim Superintendent

The Portsmouth School Committee voted to appoint a Newport native with an impressive Naval career as interim superintendent of schools Monday night, reports The Portsmouth Times. 

The school committee voted to appoint Rear Admiral Barbara E. McGann of Newport as interim superintendent.

She will replace Jeffrey Schoonover, who was previously appointed interim superintendent after the resignation of Superintendent Lynn Krizic. 

McGann, a Newport native, has an impressive Naval career that earned her two Legion of Merit awards.

A graduate of the Naval War College, she has served in the Pentagon, working for the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the Personnel Policy Division, and later as a special assistant to the Secretary of the Navy for Manpower and Reserve Affairs. 

She served in the U.S. Navy from 1970 before retiring in 2002, receiving many awards and decorations during her career. She is also a graduate of the College of Our Lady of the Elms in Chicopee, MA, holding a bachelor's degree in English; Salve Regina University, master's degree in business administration; and Georgetown University, receiving a master's degree in foreign affairs. 

After retirement, McGann served as assistant superintendent in Boston schools and as the executive director of the Advanced Math and Science Academy charter school in Marlborough, MA.

You can read more about McGann's background here.