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The School Board is hiring a new director of schools and recently interviewed three candidates with a goal to vote on current Director Stanley Bean’s replacement at the March 13 meeting.

The board announced at its Feb. 13 meeting that Dr. Roger Alsup, Franklin County High School principal; Dr. Cary Holman, LaVergne Middle School principal; and Dr. Chris Treadway, principal at Poplar Grove Middle School in the Franklin Special School District; were the top three finalists recommended by the Tennessee School Boards Association which had been contracted by the School System to conduct the research to narrow the candidate field. The final selection by the board will replace Bean, who is retiring at the end of the current academic year.

Alsup and Holman were interviewed by the board on Feb. 21 at the North Middle School auditorium, and Treadway was also interviewed there on Feb. 23.

The interviews were open to the public and resident involvement was encouraged. Audience members who listened to the candidate interviews were provided with a reaction form to be filled out and returned to the School Board.

The questions on the anonymous survey will be used to provide the board with public insight on each of the candidates.

The following includes key segments taken from the individual interviews which can be viewed in their entirety on the FCHS Productions YouTube page under the title, “Franklin County School Director Interviews.”

Dr. Roger Alsup

Dr. Roger Alsup is the current Franklin County High School principal where he has served in that capacity since 2016. He has a military background as well as many years of experience as a dedicated educator at various schools and universities.

Toward the introduction of the interview, the School Board addressed Dr. Alsup with the question, “What will you do to create an atmosphere in the schools that will lead to educational excellence for all students?”

Alsup responded by noting that this would be a very important question for the night. He then went on to describe plans to do extensive research when it comes to the school district and the importance of listening and communicating among those involved in the School System, especially during the first 100 days of being hired. 

Alsup also noted a transition plan he had created and would be presenting to the board. The board went on to ask what major strengths Alsup believed he would be bringing to the position, if hired.

A career of 32 years in education, 27 years of military experience as well as a variety of leadership and teambuilding skills were among some of the qualities Alsup highlighted.

The board then began the portion of the interview in which different job-related questions were posed to the candidate.

The director-of-schools criteria included listening skills, accessibility, the ability to see when change is necessary — even when opposed, active school and community involvement, communicating school successes as well as school needs and the ability to generate public support.

At a specific instance, Alsup was asked to give evidence to support a positive change he has initiated within his district and his school.

Alsup responded with an example of restoring academic focus when he took on the principal role at FCHS.

Alsup went on to relay one of his core values as being effective in communication. He continued by providing specific examples he has implemented in promoting open communication with students, staff and parents during his education career.

The board said it expects the director of schools to be active and visible in the community.

Alsup was asked to specify how he would go about accomplishing such a task.

He promptly responded: “By doing the same thing I do now as a high school principal. I am at 80 to 85 percent of all the student functions and ballgames.”

He went on to describe the other school functions, church and community events that he and his family are active in.

Continuing with the criteria-related material, the board asked questions pertaining to candidate knowledge and experience related to a diverse student body as well as maintaining a diverse staff with positive morale.

Experience with effectively working among multicultural groups in and outside the school system was also stressed.

Alsup addressed academic struggles that can occur among students and spoke about analyzing data provided by test scores. He noted the importance of looking at teacher resources and making sure they were equipped with the materials and professional development necessary to be successful.

On the point of maintaining positive morale among staff, Alsup cited numerous acts of appreciation he has provided for faculty and staff as well as being supportive through listening and being visible.

“Sometimes, on a bad day, I enjoy walking into a classroom where I know I am going to see some really good teaching,” he said.

Importance was placed on goal-setting and achieving accomplishments as well as a good working relationship among students, parents, staff, the community and the School Board. Impartial decision-making and judgement as well as maintaining a well-informed relationship among the School Board members was highlighted.

A question was directly asked pertaining to what the hardest decision Alsup has had to make in his last or current position.

Alsup carefully responded that not recommending a staff member for re-employment is an incredibly difficult decision that he can be faced with.

“I got into education because I was drawn to public service and I wanted to help people,” Alsup said.

The hard conversations are difficult to have, but he recognized that changes need to be made when educators are not meeting their teaching expectations.

Upon receiving questions regarding working with and keeping the School Board informed on the decisions made by the director of schools, Alsup mentioned being a good and open communicator is a major quality he supported.

Effectively working with the County Commission on school budgeting and allocating resources was also addressed.

Then a question was asked by student representative Cason Orr: “What are your plans for continuing and increasing communication between the School Board, staff and faculty, the public and the student body?”

Alsup responded with statements promoting open communication between teachers and the School Board.

“One of the things I would like to make sure we do is to invite the School Board to come to all the schools and visit with the teachers and students,” Alsup said.

At the conclusion of the interview, the board thanked Alsup for his time, and he gave out his proposed transition plan if hired as the new director of schools.

Dr. Cary Holman

Dr. Cary Holman is the principal at LaVergne Middle School in the city of LaVergne as well as an adjunct instructor at Middle Tennessee State University. He has served as principal of LaVergne Middle School for nearly 13 years.

Holman also has significant previous experience in education within the Franklin County School System.

Holman gave the board a packet of materials just prior to the start of his interview. The board first gave Holman the opportunity to tell the board anything about himself that was not reflected in his resume.

Holman first thanked the board for its time and replied that the energy he brings to his profession is something that people normally can’t pick up on by just looking at his resume.

Holman went on to further describe himself as having a very positive energy level and that he does not believe in problems but instead views obstacles as opportunities.

Holman was also posed with the question, “What will you do to create an atmosphere in the schools that will lead to educational excellence for all students?”

Holman said he wanted to emphasize the word “all” in the question and expanded by saying listening, leading and modeling were important to him in a leadership role. He went on to cite the need for providing social, economic and educational well-being for all children while following state standards and creating a school environment that is conducive to the student’s needs.

The board went on to ask Holman to briefly describe some of his personal strengths that he might bring to the position if hired as Franklin County’s director of schools.

Communication, being relationship-driven and his experience were some of qualities that Holman mentioned about himself.

He went on further to describe his experiences, ranging from being a student in Franklin County to a teacher and principal within the county as well as his time as a principal in Rutherford County and working at the university level.

Next, the board moved into the criteria-related portion of the interview.

The first criteria-related question asked of Dr. Holman consisted of providing examples in which he had changed his mind and taken a different course of action as a result of listening to the input of others.

Two examples were given by Holman on the topic, beginning with the statement, “You have to be open to voice.”

The first example given was during his time as a principal when his teachers wanted to explore mini schools/academies. He provided examples of valuing teacher voices and empowerment as well as noting that not every decision should be left solely up to the principal alone.

He went on to another example of listening to the input of others as being his principal evaluations.

Questions pertaining to examples that demonstrate the candidate’s ability to build confidence in the schools were addressed.

Holman expressed the importance of presenting institutional information in a manner that can be easily interpreted by parents which, in turn, promotes understanding and confidence in how schools operate.

He also noted the importance of school sports and clubs and their role in nurturing the social and emotional well-being of the students.

Holman spoke on leading by example when it came to school-activity involvement and cited his own sponsoring of his school’s cooking club.

A question regarding the expectation of the director of schools to be a visible figure in the community was brought up.

When asked how Dr. Holman would accomplish community visibility if hired for the director position, he confidently replied: “You have a candidate before you that you won’t have to ask to show up. I will beat you to it.”

He went on to describe his views on visibility and that, as director of schools, being active and visible should be an unwritten expectation and that the position represents the face of the district while working directly with the board.

Holman was asked to describe how he would ensure academic success in the Franklin County School District.

He went on to say that he believes that communicating with the board on data and speaking with principals on executing that data is important. He also said that children are more than numbers, and students of various categories and demographics deserve attention.

Importance was placed on goal-setting and achieving accomplishments as well as developing a good working relationship among students, parents, staff, the community and the School Board.

When questioned about working with the board and good decision-making, Holman said he recognizes that it isn’t a one-man show and that the school director and the board work as a partnership.

Impartial decision-making and judgement as well as maintaining a well-informed relationship among the school board members was highlighted. Effectively working with the County Commission on school budgeting and allocating resources was also addressed.

Cason Orr, student representative, directly asked Dr. Holman, “What are your plans for continuing and increasing communication between the school board, staff and faculty, the public and the student body?”

Orr then remarked that he would like to emphasize the student-body portion of the question.

“Students have my heart,” Holman said, adding that he would want to develop roundtable discussions, teacher advisory councils, parent councils and student advisory councils which would allow for more communication.

As the interview concluded, a board member asked to hear the vision Holman has for Franklin County Schools.

“My vision is to empower, encourage and accelerate where we currently are,” he said.

Dr. Chris Treadway

Dr. Chris Treadway is the Poplar Grove Middle School principal in the Franklin Special School District in the city of Franklin. He is a native of East Tennessee and has also served as a principal in the Rutherford County School System.

As the interview began on Feb. 23, Treadway thanked the audience for being in attendance as well as the School Board for conducting the interview.

The board then asked Treadway if there was anything he wished to convey about himself that would not be reflected on his resume.

Treadway responded by saying that he would like to convey his “why.”

He remarked that he grew up in East Tennessee in poverty. He added that there were people in his community who made sure he did not do without, and their expectations shaped him.

“I want to give the kids of Franklin County every opportunity to be successful,” he said.

The board then continued with its interview by asking the question, “What would you do to create an atmosphere in the schools that will lead to educational excellence for all students?”

Treadway replied that the director of schools and the School Board have a large role in achieving excellence.

The board then gave Treadway the opportunity to express a few major strengths that he would bring to this position.

Treadway said his strengths included a good work ethic, the ability to connect with people and the ability to unite diverse groups and make those around him better.

The board continued by asking questions pertaining to criteria relating to the position of director of schools.

Treadway confirmed his support of being a good listener when it comes to being a school leader and talked about how listening to the board, teachers and parents can positively benefit the district.

Treadway’s emphasis on listening to the needs of others within the School System carried over to the next question posed by the board.

The School Board asked, “Describe a significant change you initiated in your district or school and tell us what evidence you have to show it was a positive change?”

Treadway gave examples from his current role.

He noted that Poplar Grove was an application school when he first took the job. The school then moved to a zoned public school rather than operating similarly to a private school.

He further noted the school is about 40 percent Hispanic.

Treadway explained that he was tasked with getting a variety of people from different backgrounds and ethnicities to work well together.

He gave two examples of how he built support and positive change for his school — one being solving a notable issue with absences for Hispanic families when parent-teacher organization meetings took place.

The meetings happened directly after school, and it was noted that many parents were still at work.

By moving the meetings to a later time and providing child care, the amount of parent participation grew, he said.

“We realized if we want to engage everybody, we have to do it when everyone can come,” Treadway said.

The board said it expects the director of schools to communicate the success as well as the needs of the School System and advocate for the students and public education.

Treadway was asked, “What have you done to help the public understand the needs of your school system?”

Treadway noted that so much that goes on inside a school is often fantastic, but negative stories often make headlines.

Celebrating school accomplishments is pertinent, Treadway said, and he continued by emphasizing, “To anyone that will listen, I will shout it to the heavens.”  

A candidate’s ability to build confidence within the school system is a vital area of criteria the School Board has emphasized.

“Confidence begins with competency,” Treadway explained.

He expounded on the topic by saying that the schools can build confidence by establishing trust among parents.

The board then addressed the expectation of public and community visibility when it comes to the role of director of schools.

Treadway said that he and his wife would be empty-nesters, and they would relocate to Franklin County, find a home church and plug in to the community.

Maintaining a diverse, well-supported staff with high morale is another expected component for the director of schools in Franklin County.

When asked to give examples within his current job that demonstrate the ability to inspire and motivate, Treadway replied, “If you can’t inspire and motivate, this job would be extremely hard.”

He went on to say that keeping morale high for teachers is paramount. He stressed the importance of teacher pay and getting in to help.

He cited an example which took place during the COVID-19 pandemic where the cafeteria was short-staffed and the director of schools in Treadway’s district was cooking biscuits in the cafeteria to provide support.

He said that experience made an impression and showed that helping when needed, no matter your position of leadership, is vital.

Treadway also expanded on keeping morale high among his teachers by providing a variety of incentives and treats for them while also always being there to listen to needs.

Importance was placed on goal-setting and achieving accomplishments as well as a good working relationship among students, parents, staff, the community and the School Board.

Impartial decision-making and judgment as well as maintaining a well-informed relationship among the school board members was highlighted.

Effectively working with the County Commission on school budgeting and allocating resources was also addressed.

Student representative Cason Orr asked, “What are your plans for continuing and increasing communication between the school board, staff and faculty, the public and the student body?”

Treadway answered by saying, “Communication with the board is paramount.”

He further expanded on frequent communication and the methods he would implement. He also noted that he would be present to speak with students and teachers first-hand and also through principals.

Attending student sports and activities was another means of being in contact with students and their needs, he said.

As Treadway’s interview concluded, he addressed the audience by thanking them for the turnout. He said he would stay down front at the interview’s close to address public questions.

The School Board members will be voting on the director-of-schools position, and public opinion is greatly appreciated and will be taken into consideration.

For further information, go to the School System’s website at fcstn.net.