New Superintendent Of Achievement District Will Oversee Takeover Of Five Schools

The State Board of Education has named the leader of a new program aimed at improving the state's lowest-performing public schools. Eric Hall will oversee North Carolina's new Achievement District.

Hall is a former teacher and has more than 20 years of experience in education. He currently leads a statewide nonprofit called Communities In Schools. The organization provides student support services with the aim of helping to reduce dropout rates for at-risk students.

“During my time at Communities In Schools, we have worked to reach students in poverty, students in rural and urban communities and students in non-traditional school settings with innovative wraparound supports," Hall said in a statemet. "I look forward to taking my passion to DPI to build innovative solutions to education that bring communities together and propel students forward.”

Hall's got a big challenge ahead. He will help choose charter-operating companies to take over five North Carolina public elementary schools that have consistently shown poor growth and performance.

The companies could hire and fire who they want and would be exempt from oversight by local school boards.

Opponents say the project takes away local control. Supporters say it could invigorate schools where students face dim futures.

State Board Chairman Bill Cobey says he's excited to have Hall on board.

“Dr. Hall has a great track record and we are just delighted that he would apply for this job and we were able to make it happen,” says Cobey. “He has a lot of experience working with local districts, so we think he is absolutely the perfect person to move this program forward.”

Cobey says the five pilot schools have not been identified.

The program could begin as early as this fall, but Cobey says he expects it to get going in 2018.

“We are not going to rush this thing,” he says. “There have been efforts in other states and some of them haven't done that well. It will be our intention to learn from the experiences of other states and not make the same mistakes. We want it to be a big success and something the whole community and state can applaud.”

The program is designed to last for five years, with possible extensions if more time is needed for a school to reach its goals.

State law requires that the full Achievement School District must be operating by the 2019-20 school year.

Hall is expected to begin his new position as superintendent in May.

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