Richard Thompson, the superintendent of schools in Tupelo, Miss., has been named the new superintendent of education in Mississippi.
Mr. Thompson, who has held the job in Tupelo since 1987, begins his new duties July 1. He succeeds Richard Boyd, who resigned in March to become vice president of research for the American College Testing program.
A primary-election victory for Norma Paulus, a former secretary of state for Oregon, virtually ensured she will be the state’s next school superintendent.
Ms. Paulus, who ran against the incumbent, John Erickson, and three other contenders, won the May 15 primary with about 65 percent of the vote.
Ms. Paulus, who ran on a campaign promise to reform the state’s school-finance formula, will run unopposed in November. The new superintendent will take office in January.
Fred McCray, the Brooklyn high-school teacher who led students into a Korean-owned grocery store to protest a boycott of the store, has asked to be transferred from his school.
Mr. McCray told school officials that he and his family had received threats as a result of his actions. The Erasmus Hall High teacher, who is black, led about 30 students into the grocery, the target of a four-month boycott by black residents because of an altercation between store employees and a Haitian shopper.
Union officials said Mr. McCray was incommunicado.
