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During the Thursday business meeting of the Troup County School Board, new superintendent, Dr. Rachel Hazel introduced the new Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum, Angela Polite. 

Her official title, once she begins work in August, will be Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction.

“Just know that you can expect much from me. And I’m here to just partner with the awesome team that you already have in place,” Polite said. 

“We did have an interview committee that interviewed five very strong candidates, the committee was included myself, our human resources chief, a director and a principal,” Hazel said. “Ms. Polite comes to us with a wealth of administrative experience. She has served in one school district for the past 20 years and that is Volusia County Schools, in Florida.”

Hazel was deputy superintendent for Volusia County Schools before taking the Troup County position. Polite is currently the Principal of the Year for the county.

“She served on accreditation teams for other districts and has experience in creating and implementing her own curriculum that she has written to improve those [state school] grades…She has earned the designation from the state of Florida as a turnaround principle,” Hazel added. 

The designation was earned by increasing the state scores for both of the elementary schools where she served as principal. 

The other major change announced was Candace McGhee moving from her role as principal of Ethel Kight Elementary School to Director of Prevention and Intervention.

In the audience was an entourage of teachers and supporters, there for the clearly beloved principal. McGhee is currently the longest serving principal in the district. 

The Director of Intervention and Prevention position is new to the district.

“We did take two positions, one was formerly a coordinator for PBIS [Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support] and one was a school liaison position…we combined those two positions to really fill a need in the district and that is a gap between our Student Services Department and our curriculum department,” Hazel said.