Updated 5/13/20
The Giles County Board of Education named Vickie Beard as Director of Schools and her contract was unanimously approved.
The contract has a four-year term that would expire May 31st, 2024, if it is not renewed before that time. The contract can be renewed, but cannot be extended beyond a total of four years.
Under the contract, Beard will be paid $119,000 per year and her performance and salary is to be evaluated each year.
According to the contract, the director of schools must maintain primary residence in Giles County.
In a work session, Beard provided the board with her evaluation of where the school district is, where she would like to see it go and how she wants it to get there.
Looking at Giles County’s data and where it ranks in the South Central Region and in the state, Beard noted that despite some promising numbers she wants to see Giles County improve in many areas.
Beard asked the board to consider an amendment for the current school budget to purchase textbooks for the upcoming school year. The budget amendment, which passed on first reading at the May 7th meeting, is for $460,000 and covers the purchase of English Language Arts textbooks for all grades for the next six years.
In addition to curriculum and instruction, Beard said evaluating students is vital to the kind of growth she wants to see throughout Giles County schools.
Beard explained her goals for the school system, which included specific data driven goals and goals for the mindset of everyone in Giles County schools.
Other goals the new director included was getting school buildings renovated and upgraded as soon as possible, establishing a virtual school, increasing the district’s average ACT composite scores to 21 and encouraging and emphasizing a growth mindset.
Beard is a Giles County native from Minor Hill, who graduated from Giles County High School in 1986. She received her bachelor’s in English from Athens State University, her master’s in School Counseling from the University of North Alabama and her doctorate in School Leadership from East Tennessee State University.
