2009.05.06
Former superintendent best in Virginia
Fred Morton, Montgomery County's schools superintendent from 1998 to 2004, was named Virginia's Superintendent of the Year at a conference of schools chiefs Tuesday.
The State Superintendent of Public Instruction and the officers of four Virginia education organizations selected him from among eight regional Superintendents of the Year.
Don Ford, president of the Virginia Association of School Superintendents, called Morton a "champion of the underdog."
Morton left Montgomery County to take a post in Henrico County schools, one of the largest school districts in the state with 48,000 students. He recently started a program, which required building administrators to “adopt” ten students not likely to succeed in school and eventually drop out. The program helped to reduce Henrico’s drop-outs from 678 to 453 in one year, according to a news release.
The award makes Morton eligible for the National Superintendent of the Year Award, which will be presented in Phoenix, Arizona next February by the American Association of School Administrators.
