Pride Elementary's new leader wants parents deeply involved

[ Newly-appointed Pride Elementary School principal Cindy Land talks with secretary Beverly Campbell in the school office. DANIEL WALLACE | Times]

From the Times:

By Rodney Thrash

NEW TAMPA — When Pride Elementary students go back to school next month, they will have a new leader. • In June, the Hillsborough County School Board picked Cindy Land, previously the assistant principal at Chiles Elementary, to succeed Jamie Johnson, who moved out of state. • The 38-year-old Pebble Creek resident takes over a school shrouded in controversy last year after Johnson allowed a 160-foot cell tower on the campus without public notice. • The episode strained relations between administrators and parents. Some threatened to pull their children out of Pride. • Land said she can't do much about the past, but believes all stakeholders should be at the table before any major decisions. She wants to hear from those stakeholders at 2 p.m. Aug. 24 in the school cafeteria. Until then, pull up a seat for the St. Petersburg Times' conversation with Land.