Franklin County School Superintendent Guiding School Board in Search for Her Successor

Franklin County School Superintendent Dr. Ruth O’Dell is working with the Franklin County School Board to ensure that her successor will be willing and able to carry on the goals and initiatives she has put in motion.

Dr. O’Dell is retiring at the end of this school year and the Board is now actively searching for her replacement.

At their regular board meeting Monday evening, O’Dell outlined where the school system staff and teachers are with regard to the new State-mandated curriculum and what that means for the future of the system.

Dr. O’Dell said the new Milestones assessment test has given the staff a good basis for future improvement and shows that the new curriculum is more rigorous.

“When the word ‘rigor’ is used in education, we’re describing school work, instruction, learning experiences the kids are having and educational expectations that we are making that are very challenging academically and intellectually.” O’Dell explained.

O’Dell said over the past nine years she has been able to prepare the faculty and staff in Franklin County for the new curriculum and other changes by using a professional learning community approach.

She says that has been part of the success of the school system in helping to improve test scores and raise the graduation rate.

“We’re organized into teams of people,” O’Dell said. “Our grade levels work together, our departments work together, all of our administrators work together in teams. We bring data in or evidence, things that we see that are happening and we solve problems together.”

As the School Board looks over the incoming applications for the school superintendent position, they will be looking for a candidate who can continue that concept and continue to grow the system over the long term.

“They (the school board) knows that the most important thing is students and student learning,” O’Dell noted. “They know how we’ve organized things for students to learn and they’re going to be asking questions even after there’s a new hire. They’re going to be asking questions then to be sure it continues. I’m very confident in them and in what the board is going to able to do.”

School Board Chair Joe Greene has said the Board is very concerned that whoever they hire will continue to move forward on the same path Dr. O’Dell set and they want someone who will stay in the job longer than the traditional two to three years to see the school system through to the next level.

“If I leave here and things don’t continue to improve the way they want them to, then I share a part of that blame, because that means that I haven’t developed leadership everywhere. It can’t be about one person,” O’Dell concluded.

Greene has said they hope to begin reviewing resumes and conducting interviews after the first of the year.