Pender County announces new superintendent

PENDER COUNTY — School starts in less than a week and Pender County has just named a new superintendent. This comes less than 24 hours after the former superintendent resigned.

Ted Kaniuka abruptly resigned Sunday night. Monday night the school board announced his replacement.

Allison Sholar is the new school superintendent for Pender County. Sholar was the assistant superintendent to Kaniuka.

Kanuika says he resigned because he wants to pursue other options. He would not say what those other options are or if he has another job.

Kaniuka did say he plans to stay in education and stay in Pender County.

“I’ve been a life-long educator; I truly enjoy building a future for children. I’ve been doing it now for 20 two years, and I couldn’t dream of going into another field.”

Kaniuka was superintendent for three years. He resigned with two years left on his contract.

The school board awarded Kaniuka $75,000 in severance pay even though he broke his contract.