MEDIA RELEASE
Brooksville - Starting July 1, Anna Jensen will become Director of Exceptional Student Education for the Hernando School District. She replaces Troy LaBarbara, who will leave the school district at the end of June. Jensen has been with Hernando County Schools since 1994, most recently as the Coordinator of Compliance and Due Process for the ESE Department since April 2020.
Her 28 year tenure includes working as an ESE teacher at Westside and Pine Grove elementary schools, assistant principal of the gifted program at Challenger K-8 and as assistant principal at Moton Elementary. Jensen also has extensive experience within the district's Exceptional Student Education Department, having worked as a program staffing specialist, Coordinator of Exceptional Student Education, and Coordinator of Exceptional Student Support Services.
"Anna is our expert in compliance requirements. She is detailed oriented and thorough," said Lisa Cropley, Executive Director of Student Support Programs for HCSD. "But her real gift is in her ability to make connections with staff and parents. She is a calm, positive presence and her professionalism is appreciated by everyone who works with her."
With her most recent position as ESE's Coordinator of Compliance and Due Process, Jensen was responsible for:
- ESE PreK - served as administrator of the online system for pre-K; checked for compliance and signed for pre-K diagnostic team referrals;
- Gifted Program - coordinated program for the district;
- Compliance - provided training and review on compliance; was the BPIE liaison (Best Practices for Inclusive Education);
- Supervisor - completed observations/evaluations for all speech-language pathologists, PK Diagnostic Team and Assistive Technology Team