Ohio creates statewide school-threat tipline

Ann Clark and Henderson Lewis leading large districts in North Carolina and Louisiana

Ohio Department of Public Safety Director John Born helped create a statewide anonymous tip line for schools that allows students to identify potential threats, such as a student planning to bring a weapon to school. It is now used in more than 820 districts.

The 24/7 tip line accepts calls or texts and is answered by trained analysts in the Ohio Department of Homeland Security’s Threat Assessment and Prevention Unit. As of mid-January, the tip line had helped the department identify 25 legitimate threats.

Ann Clark was appointed superintendent of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools in North Carolina in January. She joined the district in 1983 as a teacher, and has held a variety of teaching and administrative positions. Clark assumed the superintendent position in November, after the former superintendent unexpectedly resigned. She will serve through July 2016, and then plans to retire.

Henderson Lewis Jr. was named superintendent of Orleans Parish School Board in New Orleans in January, after a unanimous school board vote. He currently leads East Feliciana Public Schools in Clinton, Louisiana, and will start the job in mid-March.

His plan for his first 180 days includes addressing teacher evaluations, minority contracts and a 2013 Bureau of Government Research report that took issue with the system’s tax accounting.

Gregory Killough was named superintendent of Roanoke County Public Schools in Virginia, beginning July 1. He has served as the superintendent of Caroline County Public Schools in Virginia since 2008.

While in Caroline County, he oversaw major projects such as a $10 million elementary school renovation and the approval of a $25 million bond referendum for additional renovations.

Joshua Starr resigned from his position as superintendent of Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland in February. His four-year contract was set to end in June, but he worked out a deal with the school board that allowed him to resign early and for the board to immediately begin a search for a new superintendent.

A few board members were allegedly unhappy with Starr’s attempts to narrow the achievement gap.

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