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Kelly Henson Once Again Among Georgia’s Best Superintendents
August 27, 2007
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| Kelly C. Henson, superintendent of Floyd County Schools, has been selected as a finalist in the 2008 Georgia School Superintendents Association's (GSSA) Superintendent of the Year search. This is the second consecutive year Henson has been recognized by the group as one of Georgia’s most outstanding school superintendents. The GSSA committee charged with selecting the 2008 Superintendent of the Year has announced the names of four finalists for this year's award. The winner of the GSSA award will be announced in early December. Kelly Henson has been superintendent of Floyd County Schools for seven years. In his nomination submitted by Bryan Shealy, chairman of the Floyd County Board of Education, Henson is commended for leadership in academic improvement, fiscal management and communication. Mr. Shealy wrote, "The Floyd County School system has been honored for academic success over the last few years as the system has made great strides in academic excellence for children. It is time now for the visionary leader responsible for setting Floyd County Schools on the path to academic excellence to be recognized for his contributions to the betterment of the children of Floyd County and public education." Kelly. Henson is a leader in innovation when new ideas will benefit children and their academic development. One major academic accomplishment has been the development of a new Honors College Prep curriculum that is challenging Floyd County students to higher standards. The new Honors College Prep program finished its first year with 25% of the freshman class in the program and has graduated its first two program completion classes with the classes of 2006 and 2007. All students completing this advanced program have been given a guarantee that they will be prepared for college academic work. Of course, innovation in itself is not profitable if students do not show progress. Henson has helped children in Floyd County make impressive strides in academic achievement. As a result of raising the bar with the addition of the Honors College Prep program and the system’s unique partnership with Cambridge Educational Services for SAT prep, The system’s SAT scores are some of the highest ever recorded in Floyd County Schools. Coosa High School was presented one of the first Governor’s Cups for the largest gain in SAT scores. The system has also excelled on state testing. CRCT scores have been some of the best in the state over the last three years. In the first year of high stakes testing for the third grade CRCT, only 25 students did not pass the test to move on to the fourth grade. That was one of the best pass rates in the state. The system has also excelled on the national standard of Adequate Yearly Progress. All of our schools made AYP for 2004 and 2006. Of school systems in Georgia with more than 10 schools, Floyd County was one of only three school systems in Georgia in 2004 and six in 2006 to have 100% of the system’s schools make AYP. Henson has not only raised the bar but he has given teachers and students the tools they need to meet the increased expectations. Kelly Henson recognizes the importance of great teachers to the success of students in the classroom. He volunteered to be one of 10 school systems in Georgia to pilot a program to assess and improve working conditions for teachers. The program, funded by BellSouth, was called the Quality Learning and Teaching Environment initiative (QLTE) and participation included surveying teachers to get their perceptions of teaching and learning conditions. Henson used the data from the surveys and follow-up focus groups with teachers to get teachers involved in the process of making improvements to make a good situation even better. He instituted a teacher advisory panel to get regular input from teachers and has shared the results of their meetings with all teachers in the system. Henson understands that teachers not only must be allowed to identify areas for improvement but they must be a part of the process to find solutions to maximize the opportunities for children to learn. Floyd County Schools was one of four school systems recognized by the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education for participation in the Quality Learning and Teaching Environment project. Funding reductions have had a major impact on school systems throughout the state. Kelly Henson has been a leader in working with the education committee members of the state legislature to reduce the negative budget impact over the last few years to not only Floyd County, but to all systems in Georgia. Locally, he has implemented new expenditure controls that have allowed the system to make major academic improvements during difficult economic times and at the same time improving the system’s financial position. This was done with the added problem of limited or no growth to the local tax digest over the period. Henson was able to deal with the reduction of funding, the costs associated with program additions and academic enhancements, and improving the school system's financial bottom line without eliminating programs or laying off a single teacher or staff member. Henson is joined by three other finalists: Dr. L.C. “Buster” Evans, superintendent, Forsyth County Schools; Dr. Jack Parish, superintendent, Henry County Schools; and Dr. Ron Saunders, superintendent, Barrow County Schools. The four finalists were chosen from among a field of twenty-three superintendents nominated this year. All four will now complete a lengthy document prepared by the American Association of School Administrators as they move into the final phase of the selection process. The winner, who will represent Georgia in the national competition, will be named during the November 30, 2007 Awards Luncheon that is part of the annual GSBA/GSSA Winter Conference held at the Waverly Hotel in Cobb County. |
