Kimber Halliburton 405 W. College St.

Director Of Schools Jonesborough, TN 37659

Phone (423) 753-1100

FOR IMMEDIAE RELEASE:

The following is the Official Letter of Resignation of Washington County Schools Director of
Schools Kimber Halliburton:

To: The Washington County Board of Education

From: Kimber Halliburton,
Director of Washington County Schools

Date: May 23, 2018

Re: Resignation

In the two years I have been privileged to serve as the Director of Washington County
Schools, I have watched our school system make remarkable and historical progress toward
established goals. We have increased test scores by providing high-quality and more
frequent professional development opportunities for teachers and principals, leading to
better teaching quality. Every administrator has been trained in Mike Rutherford’s Artisan
Teacher program as well as the Skillful Observation and Feedback and Coaching Laboratory.
Every teacher has also been trained in the Artisan Teacher’s Field Guide to Skillful Teaching
and its 23 Artisan Teacher Themes. Additionally, we have made plans for long needed
capital improvements and have invested heavily in new state-of-the-art instructional
technology for students and teachers.

To be more specific about our accomplishments, last year (2016-17 SY), we increased our
graduation rates by 3.11%, improved our ACT Scores, earned an “Exemplary School District”
Status from the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE), posted a level 5 out of 5 for
student academic growth, and outranked/outperformed nearly every surrounding city
school system with larger budgets who we had never before outperformed. Our TN Ready
results in English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics made us the number one ranked
county school system in the First Region of Tennessee.

This year, we had 634 students (a record number) score a 21 or above on the ACT test. I
could not be prouder of our teachers and students for such a remarkable accomplishment.
As most of the community knows, ACT scores are the most difficult performance numbers to
increase. However, I am proud to share what our high school principals have calculated thus
far as this school year (2017-18) ends. Last year, David Crockett High School posted an
average ACT Score of 19.9 while at the end of this school year, DCHS has an average posting
of 20.4. This is significant increase in ACT scores! Daniel Boone High School posted an
average ACT Score of 20.8 last year, and a 20.9 this year.

In addition, it appears graduation rates are continuing to climb this year as well. Last year,
Board of Directors

Annette Buchanan Todd Ganger Clarence Mabe

Mary Beth Dellinger David Hammond Mike Masters
Keith Ervin Jack Leonard Phillip McLain
Kimber Halliburton 405 W. College St.
Director Of Schools Jonesborough, TN 37659
Phone (423) 753-1100
David Crockett’s graduation rate was 90.6%, while this year Mrs. Wright, DCHS principal,
predicts the graduation rate to be 92% with just a few final students working on their credits
as I write to share this news with you. Daniel Boone’s graduation rate last year was that of
93.8%, and Mr. Campbell, DBHS principal, boasts this year’s grad rate is a record 96.5%.
Again, this is a significant accomplishment for our county school system.

Our generous County Commission has invested heavily in our students and county school
system. This nearly $3,000,000 investment over a 15 month period has allowed us to infuse
quality, purposeful, and strategic instructional technology into our classrooms across the
county, positively impacting our teachers’ abilities to exceed targeted goals and work more
efficiently in their teaching.

We have installed ClearTouch panels in every 1st thru 4th grade classroom across the school
system as a means to differentiate instruction and increase student engagement. Also, every
school in Washington County has either a 4:1, 3:1, or 2:1 student-to-device ratio; whereas
previously, some school ratios were as high as 19:1 and 33:1. This means there were 33
students for each device to share, which as we know is impossible. The result of this one
investment from the Commission is extraordinary!

Furthermore, we have completed a major installation of Audio Enhancement in all of our K-

7 classrooms. As a result of this audio technology, teachers report that they go home each
day less fatigued. All of the technologies we now have in place assist teachers in working
smarter and not harder. I congratulate our hard working teachers for our stellar results!

Under my leadership, Washington County Schools has increased its social media presence
through multiple platforms. Our Twitter account went from three followers to over 2,400 in
less than 2 years. We have tweeted out almost 6,400 tweets highlighting the fantastic
students, teachers, and instructional practices in our schools. Each school has started using
the REMIND app to improve the speed of communication with our families.

I was blessed to begin new focus groups and new traditions while serving in our great
system. These traditions allowed us to recognize those most important in our schools.

The Washington Way photograph is one such tradition. Student leaders selected by the
principals from both Daniel Boone High School and David Crockett High School come
together to pose for a picture together and vow to be competitive on the playing field, but
support one another off the field. We title this photograph, “We are Washington County.”
Both Football Coaches speak to our students and encourage them to represent their school
and county well.

We began the “Principal for a Day” program in Washington County. This is a day that
business and community leaders can take advantage of shadowing our principals while they
are in action. We close this shadowing experience with a luncheon for every principal and
Board of Directors

Annette Buchanan Todd Ganger Clarence Mabe

Mary Beth Dellinger David Hammond Mike Masters
Keith Ervin Jack Leonard Phillip McLain
Kimber Halliburton 405 W. College St.
Director Of Schools Jonesborough, TN 37659
Phone (423) 753-1100
business leader coming together to share their experiences. It is a very positive day and has
led to many technology and financial donations to our schools.

The “Teacher of the Year” Banquet is also a new tradition. This banquet honors our teachers
of the year from every school with a nice Sunday-dress type dinner. Kasey Marler from
WJHL serves as our Master of Ceremonies and we honor each teacher on stage with a nice
trophy and special recognition. The venue is free and we fund this special evening solely
through donations from the business community and individual donors.

Last, but not least, we also began the School Resource Officer Appreciation Luncheon.
Principals prepare a covered dish and a written statement to share with everyone about how
appreciated and special our SRO’s are to each of our school communities.

Some of the focus groups I have been able to form and gather ideas from are as follows: The
Parent-Director Alliance Team (P-DAT), The Teacher-Director Alliance Team (T-DAT), and
The Student-Director Alliance Team (S-DAT). I have gathered much insight from all three
of these groups serving and being served in our school district.

As a result of the success of the Washington County Schools, other leaders in the education
community have noticed my work. As you are aware, I was recently considered as a
candidate to serve as the Commissioner of Education for the State of Alabama. Additionally,
there have been a number of other exciting educational opportunities presented to me, and I
have found myself thinking more and more about the next stage of my career.

While this musing has not come easy, an exciting challenge has presented itself to me to
serve as a Superintendent in a new community. I have made the tough decision to leave
Washington County to pursue this new challenge in my career.

Accordingly, it is with both joy and sadness that I submit this letter of resignation to you, the
Washington County Board of Education. My final day of service to Washington County
Schools will be Thursday, May 31, 2018.

I am thankful to the Board for selecting me and allowing me to serve the students and
families of Washington County.

Board of Directors

Annette Buchanan Todd Ganger Clarence Mabe

Mary Beth Dellinger David Hammond Mike Masters
Keith Ervin Jack Leonard Phillip McLain
Kimber Halliburton 405 W. College St.
Director Of Schools Jonesborough, TN 37659
Phone (423) 753-1100

Board of Directors

Annette Buchanan Todd Ganger Clarence Mabe

Mary Beth Dellinger David Hammond Mike Masters
Keith Ervin Jack Leonard Phillip McLain