At its meeting this evening, the Priority Charter Schools Board of Directors named Dr. Melinda Halvorson as the lone finalist for Superintendent of Priority Charter Schools. Under state law, the Board must wait 21 days before taking final action, and it expects to vote on her appointment at its next regular meeting. Dr. Halvorson will succeed Dr. Scott Moger, who is retiring after nearly 30 years in public education.

Dr. Halvorson has been part of the Priority family since 2013, when she joined the Temple campus as a kindergarten teacher. She later taught first grade and was named Teacher of the Year for the 2016–2017 school year. She went on to serve as an instructional coach, became the district instructional coach in 2021, and was named Director of Curriculum and Instruction in 2022. Since 2024 she has served as Executive Director of Curriculum and Instruction, where she supervises campus principals and leads the district’s work in curriculum, school improvement, accountability, and Teacher Incentive Allotment implementation.

Over more than 25 years in education, Dr. Halvorson has worked in nearly every role a school has to offer, from paraprofessional and reading interventionist to classroom teacher, coach, and district leader. She holds a Doctorate in Educational Leadership from the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, where she also completed her superintendent preparation.

Dr. Halvorson believes Priority exists for students who might get lost in a bigger district, and she measures every decision by a simple question: will this help a teacher help a child?

The Board extends its deep gratitude to Dr. Moger for his years of leadership and service to Priority Charter Schools and its students, and congratulates Dr. Halvorson as she prepares to lead the district into its next chapter.