Friday, July 17, 2009

Terry Holliday Selected as Education Commissioner

KSBA is reporting that the state Board of Education has hired Terry Holliday of North Carolina to be Kentucky's next education commissioner.

Terry Holliday, Ph.D. – Holliday is currently superintendent of Iredell-Statesville Schools in Statesville, North Carolina, a position he has held since 2002. During his tenure, the school district received the 2008 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.
This from KDE:

HOLLIDAY SELECTED AS KENTUCKY EDUCATION COMMISSIONER

(FRANKFORT, Ky.) – Terry Holliday, superintendent of the Iredell-Statesville school district in Statesville, North Carolina, has been selected as Kentucky’s fifth commissioner of education.

His salary will be $225,000 annually, and his first day in office will be August 5. The contract is for four years.

The Kentucky Board of Education announced the selection today at a special-called meeting in Frankfort. Chairman Joe Brothers said that Holliday exemplifies the
qualities the board sought for the next commissioner.

“Terry Holliday has a proven record of accomplishments, and chief among those is his work to raise student achievement levels,” Brothers said. “He is a strong leader who understands the importance of collaboration and communication among partners, including parents, educators, community leaders, businesspeople and elected officials.

“These are challenging times for P-12 education, with budget cuts and enhanced state and federal mandates. But, I and the other board members are confident that he will provide the guidance needed as Kentucky moves forward.”

Holliday, 58, has served as superintendent of the more than 20,000-student
Iredell-Statesville school district since 2002. During his tenure, he has received recognition in a variety of areas, including being named 2009 North Carolina Superintendent of the Year; receiving the 2009 Grayson Medal for Innovation in Quality from the American Productivity Quality Council; being named the 2008 North Carolina Music Educators Association Superintendent of the Year; and selection as a 2008 Friend of NCAAHPERD, a physical education and health award.

Under his leadership, the Iredell-Statesville school district received the 2008 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, which was created by an act of Congress in 1987 to recognize companies, organizations, businesses and other entities that have
shown long-term improvement in quality and productivity. Holliday’s work as a school administrator led to the closing of achievement gaps and marked improvement in graduation rates and other student achievement measures. He is viewed as a bold, innovative leader who has focused education on changes that benefit children and their learning.

Holliday has served as North Carolina School Superintendent Association president and as a member of the North Carolina Race to the Top Committee, the North Carolina Blue Ribbon Commission on Testing and Accountability, the North Carolina Principal Evaluation Rubric Development Committee, the North Carolina E-Learning Commission/Virtual High School Advisory Committee, the Governor’s Teacher Working Conditions Advisory Committee, the United Way Board of Directors, the Statesville and Mooresville Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, the Boys and Girls Club Board of Directors and many others.

Holliday’s previous experience includes: superintendent of the Transylvania County school system in Brevard, North Carolina; associate superintendent and director of accountability for Rock Hill School District 3 in York County, South Carolina; principal, assistant principal and director of instrumental music for Fort Mill High School in Fort Mill, South Carolina; and band director at Northside Junior High, Parker High and Gaffney High in South Carolina.

He earned a bachelor’s degree from Furman University; a master’s degree and doctorate from Winthrop University; and a doctorate from the University of South Carolina.

A native of Belton, South Carolina, Holliday and his wife, Denise, are the parents of two children: Adam, a student at University of North Carolina Charlotte, and Eleanor (Ellie), a student at Elon University in North Carolina.

During the search, the board and Greenwood/Asher & Associates, Inc. made over 300 contacts, reviewed detailed information on approximately 80 individuals and interviewed 12 candidates.



Holliday’s previous experience includes:
superintendent of the Transylvania County school system in Brevard, North Carolina;
associate superintendent and director of accountability for Rock Hill School District 3 in York County, South Carolina;
principal, assistant principal and director of instrumental music for Fort Mill High School in Fort Mill, South Carolina and band director at Northside Junior High, Parker High and Gaffney High in South Carolina.
Holliday’s work as a school administrator led to the closing of achievement gaps and marked improvement in graduation rates and other student achievement measures.
He earned a bachelor’s degree from Furman University (Music Education); a master’s degree (and Ed Specialist Degree, both in Ed Admin) from Winthrop University; and a doctorate from the University of South Carolina (Ph. D. Ed Admin).
Holliday was named Superintendent of the Year for Western North Carolina in 2002;
N C Supt of the Year by the NC Music Educators Association in 2008,
Holliday was recently named 2009 A. Craig Phillips North Carolina Superintendent of the Year by the North Carolina School Boards Association and the North Carolina Association of School Administrators.

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

Kentucky is very fortunate to have this man leading their educational system. Although I'm sad to see him leave, I know that he will have the opportunity to make an even greater impact on the youth of our nation.

Anonymous said...

I'm in complete agreement with the last contributor regarding Dr. Holliday.

Kentucky is indeed fortunate to have a man well-versed in the practices and learning objectives of the South Carolina and North Carolia public schools.

Perhaps one day Dr. Holliday might elevate Kentucky to the ranks of these enlightened, progressive states of the former Confereacy.

Richard Day said...

Now hold on there, Beauregard. Kentucky was a border state.

Anonymous said...

Oh I'm sure he will elevate Kentucky somewhere. Problem is . . . you might not like where he takes you.

Anonymous said...

Ahh, enjoy him Kentucky. He's your dictator now!

Anonymous said...

Thank you Kentcky. You have been fooled by data manipulation. As you know these jobs are highly political. And do you see where American politics and business practices have us today? Again, a most gracious thank you!

Anonymous said...

As you can see from some of the posts here, asking people to work and then holding them accountable for that work is not a popular thing. ISS celebrates with you Dr. Holliday!

Anonymous said...

Have fun living in the book "The Emperor's New Clothes". You have been scammed. You may have him, and our school system will celebrate as the one before us did, too. Please enjoy his wife, and be sure she gets a position that he chooses for her. He did that in ISS. Remember, that data can always be manipulated. Thanks again for taking him.

Anonymous said...

The man (and woman) you have chosen will definitely change Kentucky education. He became famous in Iredell-Statesville for terminating teachers via messages on their answering machines on late Friday evenings, promoting everyone who agreed with him, turnin his head and ear from parents of EC students who had complaints, spending thousands of taxpayer dollars to send administrators to Baldrige workshops in other states, while denying teacher any and all funds for professional development--unless it was Baldrige. Unfortunately, data can be made to "mean" anything, and in this case, all the data you get from this system has its own meanings. Do some research as to why he lasted only a short time in Transylvania County...it wasn't his choice to leave voluntarily. He duped and swindled his way through Iredell Schools during his seven year stay. Only after an outpouring of anger and support against him and his dictatorial management style did he begin applying for positions elsewhere. His leadership changed nothing here--the teachers he belittled did that. Unfortunately, the damage he and his wife did will take years to repair.

Be glad Kentucky is a "teacher union" state. You'll need that to keep him in check.

Thank you for hiring this husband and wife duo away from you. Our prayers have been answered!!!!

Let us know how things are two years from now......

Anonymous said...

Now we'll work on replacing our board of education.....

Thank you Kentucky.

Anonymous said...

As a practicing teacher here in Kentucky, I visited the Statesville-Iredell school system website and sent 25 emails to random teacher addresses. 19 replied to my questions about Dr. Holiday and 18 were very negative. The lone positive just finished her second year of teaching. This hire is beginning to worry me. I'm going to try the same questions in the Transylvania school site as well.

Anonymous said...

Now that is the data I can believe in. Kentucky, you have been duped. Thank you.

Anonymous said...

Wow, just visited central office at ISS and you can already see the smiling faces. Many openly expressed their pleasure on his departure. Equally exciting was the announcement of the interim super.

Anonymous said...

Wow! So the people of NC did see through the facade. Ask Dr. Holliday about his ex-wife, two grown children, and two grandchildren in SC. He forgot all of them a long time ago. Just ask these children what he did for their educations...NOTHING!!!

Anonymous said...

Thank you, thank you thank you! You have done the Iredell-Statesville School System a phenomenal favor. There IS celebration here...no more dictator! Hooray!
Keep a close eye on your state budget, hopefully your state board of education will do a better job monitoring Holliday's spending than our School Board did. Also, beware of nepotism; as other posters have mentioned here, he'll probably attempt to "make up" a position for his wife.
Funny, you guys aren't paying him much more than we did, and he is running your whole state (looks like we were paying him WAY too much)...
Enjoy,he is all yours.

Anonymous said...

interesting information sc poster... don't think many here in iredell county knew of his abandoned ex-family. divorce is sometimes unavoidable, but supporting your own children and grandchildren is a given for decent folk ...how disgraceful...this speaks volumes as to an individual's moral integrity..

Anonymous said...

Educators and Central Office staff in ISS are so excited to see the Hollidays leave. It is true you will be paying for some upper level administrative position for his wife who only has experience as an elementary teacher ( and there is no data to validate she was a master teacher,not even a master's degree). Thank you for taking them off our hands and out of NC education!

Anonymous said...

When Dr. Holliday states that ISS teachers didn't want to "work," he only means that professional educators preferred to teach rather than to sell his Baldrige, which is just another pyramid operation! The Baldrige award is only meaningful to those who subscribe!

Anonymous said...

South Carolina, can you tell us more?

Anonymous said...

Whoo! Love that U-Tube comedian! He truly missed his calling!

Anonymous said...

Youtube! Hilarious!

Anonymous said...

Still wondering about the "Children Left Behind" in SC by Holliday...