NATCHEZ &8212; McLaurin Elementary Principal Karen Tutor will fill the curriculum and instruction director position open at the Natchez schools.

The central office level position is one that&8217;s been vacant about two years. McLaurin Assistant Principal Alice Morrison has been named the school&8217;s new principal.

The Natchez-Adams School Board made the moves final during executive session Thursday night.

Tutor applied for the opening when the district advertised it in February. Superintendent Anthony Morris said they received several applications, but Tutor was the best candidate.

Tutor has been McLaurin&8217;s principal for three years. Before coming to Natchez, she held a central office position with the Oxford public schools and gained experience that will guide her now, Morris said.

&8220;In this role, it will give her an opportunity to share that expertise with all the principals,&8221; Morris said. &8220;It can move the whole district up.&8221;

Tutor&8217;s duties will include supervision of media services, the technology department, assessment and professional development and curriculum instruction.

The district receives curriculum frameworks from the state but has flexibility in writing their own curriculum, Morris said.

In the two years since former director Joyce Johnson left the duties have been mainly handled by assistant superintendent Larry Little and the building level principals.

Morris said he is looking forward to central office curriculum coordination to help administrators better see the big picture and examine what the curriculum weaknesses are.

&8220;I&8217;m hoping we will be able to make more data driven decisions and look at all the information that comes in from testing and various areas,&8221; he said.

Morris said he did struggle with the decision of removing a well-liked, successful administrator from a building-level position, but said he thinks the new job is best for Tutor and the district as a whole.

Test scores have improved at McLaurin during Tutor&8217;s tenure and she was chosen as administrator of the year two years ago.

Morrison has worked alongside Tutor for two years and has nearly 10 years experience in education.

Both women will start the new jobs on July 1.

The district is taking applications for assistant principal at McLaurin.

Morrison and Tutor could not be reached for comment.