Franklin BOE to Hold Strategic Planning Retreat This Weekend

Franklin County’s Board of Education along with Franklin County School Superintendent Dr. Ruth O’Dell will be meeting this weekend for a special planning retreat.

The retreat is designed to help the board plan for the future and make the transition to a new school superintendent.

O’Dell said it’s also time to review the district’s strategic plan.

“With the transition to a new superintendent, my goal for this retreat is that the board has a solid understanding of how we do business and what the goals are and how we’re getting there,” O’Dell said. “They’ve been part of that all along, but now that they’re going through interviews and thinking of questions, and making their choices, this seemed like an important time to go back and delve more deeply into that strategic plan.”

Dr. O’Dell announced formally last fall that she would be retiring at the end of this school year.

Since then, the board has been working with the Georgia School Board Association to find O’Dell’s successor.

She says the retreat will help the board with the transition by bringing in department heads to go over what they’re working on.

“People in our administrative office like Jennifer Gaines, our school improvement director, and our two assistant superintendents Cindy Phillips and Wayne Randall and our finance director Tom Porter will have parts too where they will talk about their particular areas of expertise,” “O’Dell said.

Applications for the school superintendent job are being accepted through today, according to O’Dell.

After that the board will narrow down the list of applicants to those they would like to interview.

Dr. O’Dell said her goal is to make sure the board is comfortable moving forward when she moves on.

“I want them to have a sense of confidence that there are people right there providing continuity as we make these changes,” she said. “And that will make them feel comfortable that whoever comes in to take this position will have that support that they need to get up and running. This is the primary tool that I’m using to help in the transition for the Board.”

The Franklin County school board will hold its regular meeting for February Monday night at 6p at the school district’s administration office in Carnesville.