GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. -- Daniel Jardine has been named the Gwinnett County School District's new Chief Operations Officer.

Jardine's appointment was announced at the Gwinnett County Board of Education's February meeting.

In his new position, he will oversee construction, building maintenance, risk management and transportation, among other divisions in the district.

Jardine's experience includes facility planning and service work in Cobb and Gwinnett counties. Most recently, he served as senior vice president of Carter and Associates, a commercial real estate firm in Atlanta.

Jardine earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Georgia Tech.

He replaces longtime Gwinnett County School District COO Jim Steele, who retired in November.

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. -- The Gwinnett County Board of Education has chosen new principals for three public elementary schools.

Ruth Westbrooks is now the principal of Puckett's Mill Elementary in Dacula. She most recently served as assistant principal at Partee Elementary in Snellville, a position she'd held since 2008.

Westbrooks has also worked as a teacher and a literacy coach. She holds a bachelor's degree in elementary education from Georgia State University and a master's degree in reading and literacy from Walden University. Westbrooks also earned certification in educational leadership from the University of West Georgia.

She replaces Michelle Farmer, who is now director of leadership development in the Division of Human Resources.

Clifton Alexander is the new principal at Simonton Elementary in Lawrenceville. He comes to the school from Meadowcreek Elementary in Norcross, where he had been an assistant principal since 2009.

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. -- Laura Lynne Hicks, a 25-year veteran of the Gwinnett County Sheriff's Office, passed away Tuesday.

Hicks had been battling cancer, the sheriff's office said. She was 48.

"Captain Laura Hicks was a true professional law enforcement officer who made a difference to her department, community and friends. If nothing else, the overwhelming number of people who volunteered to help Laura or called to express their concerns during her illness says volumes about the positive influence Laura had on people," Gwinnett County Sheriff Butch Walker said in a statement.

Hicks was hired as a deputy sheriff in May 1987 and served in virtually every division of the department as she climbed the ranks. She also graduated first in her class from the Northeast Georgia Regional Police Academy. Sheriff Conway made Hicks a captain in 2005.