Jackson to retire from Floyd schools
On Tuesday, Superintendent John Jackson announced his plan to retire June 30, putting an end to his almost 30-year career in education.
In announcing his plan to retire, or re-retire, as he put it, Floyd County Schools Superintendent John Jackson said “all the signals … are pointing to I need to pass the baton to someone new.”
During an executive session of the Floyd County Board of Education Tuesday morning, Jackson read from a letter indicating he will retire June 30. He said “there is no displeasure” prompting his retirement, he just feels it is time to move on, when “everything is really trending in the right direction.”
“I promised board members who hired me that I would commit at least three years to serving as superintendent, and I am closing in on that time,” Jackson wrote. “The work in Floyd County Schools has been the capstone experience of my career. It has been a very fulfilling experience and one that I will treasure the rest of my life.”
Board Chairman Chip Hood said the board will meet Monday morning and discuss plans to find Jackson’s replacement and the type of candidate members they would like to see.
But Hood made it clear that whoever follows Jackson will have big shoes to fill.
“The right man for the right job at the right time,” Hood said of Jackson, who came on in an interim role in fall 2015 before officially taking the job in March 2016. “He doesn’t expect (students, educators, administrators) to do anything he’s not expected to do.”
When Jackson came on the system was still responding to the fallout of the discovery of decadelong thefts resulting in $6.3 million taken from the system — an ongoing RICO investigation. Also, former Superintendent Jeff McDaniel and other system employees had been accused of ethics violations, which an independent investigator found no evidence to support.
“The system had been turned upside down,” Board Vice Chairman Tony Daniel said. “He brought a calming effect to the system and made some positive moves and rebuilt the relationship throughout the system. He strengthened the core of Floyd County Schools. He re-established trust.”
From the time he took on the interim role, Jackson said, “I fell in love with the people.”
“I have been honored to work alongside some of the most dedicated teachers and support staff in all of my career,” he wrote in his letter. “These folks take their jobs to heart, care about our students and consider their work as their calling.
“I believe that God sent me here,” he said.
There is not one particular memory cemented into Jackson’s mind, rather “it’s just been a collection of a lot of things,” he said. And the triumphs have been just as fruitful to growth as the challenges, he continued.
Before he left, Jackson said he wanted to leave the system with an approved ELOST package, setting the system up for continued facilities upgrades.
Hood and Daniel pointed to the graduation rate under Jackson — the system has maintained a four-year graduation rate above 90 percent for the last three school years and landed in the top 20 system in the state in 2017 — along with carrying out the board’s technology directives and being transparent with members as a few examples of his impact.
Jackson began his administrative career at West Rome High in 1987. Later he moved on to become superintendent of Oconee County Schools, retiring from this post in 2012. He came out of retirement to briefly serve as interim superintendent for Rome City Schools in 2014, before being called on for his current post.