Kentucky School Advocate

October 2024

The Paintsville Independent Schools Board of Education has hired Bryan Auxier as the district’s next superintendent. 

Auxier graduated from Paintsville High School in 1991, and he has earned degrees from Ohio Valley University and Morehead State University. Auxier has spent the past 28 years working at the district. He served as an elementary school teacher for 10 years and has spent the last 18 years serving in various administrative roles including both elementary and high school principal, innovation coordinator and, most recently, as head start director, food service director and elementary school vice principal. 

“I feel like I’m prepared, in a sense, in that I know our school district very well,” Auxier told the Paintsville Herald. “I know the community. I live right here in town. I walk to work, and I’ve done that for years. I think what prepares me best is my relationship with our community, with our parents, with our kids, with our faculty. I think the education business is all about relationships anyway.”

Auxier, who began his new role Oct. 1, said he plans to use the school district’s seal, “In Search of Excellence,” as a starting point for his administration.

“I’m going to try to make decisions with that thought in mind,” he said. “Is this decision going to help us in search of excellence or is it going to take us away from that?”

Jefferson County Schools Superintendent Marty Pollio has announced that he will retire at the end of the school year. 

Pollio, who has been superintendent for seven years, has worked in the district for 30 years. Pollio is one of the longest tenured superintendents of any large urban district in the country. 

“I began crafting this letter about a month ago,” Pollio said in a Sept. 27 email to staff. “It has taken me this long to complete it as I get emotional every time I return to the letter. I picked this day to send it out to the JCPS family, not anticipating canceling school today. However, it is probably appropriate with all the challenges we have tackled together over the last 7+ years.”

Jefferson County school board members commended Pollio for his tenure as superintendent.

“Under Dr. Pollio’s leadership we have seen such accomplishments as a new student assignment plan, a new facility plan that includes the building of 24 new school buildings over the next decade, an enhanced safety and security plan, an aligned literacy and numeracy plan across all JCPS schools,” said board member Gail Logan Strange.

The board of education will now decide whether to hire a search firm to help them with finding Pollio’s replacement.

Next month, four of the seven board seats are up for election with at least three changing in January, because three members are not seeking re-election. Strange, who was appointed in December 2023, is the only incumbent seeking reelection and faces one challenger. 

“Looking forward to working with my three new colleagues who are coming up behind us, and I think we’ll have a good team prepared to tackle this challenge,” said board vice chair James Craig.

The U.S. Department of Education has named five Kentucky public schools as 2024 National Blue Ribbon Schools based on their overall academic excellence.

The five schools and their districts are:

•    Corbin Middle School (Corbin Independent)

•    Cold Hill Elementary School (Laurel County)

•    Lone Oak Elementary School (McCracken County)

•    Northern Elementary School (Pulaski County)

•    Shirley Mann Elementary School (Boone County)

“I congratulate and thank our newest Blue Ribbon Schools for their hard work to ensure every student has the skills they need for a successful future,” said Kentucky Education Commissioner Robbie Fletcher. “This award highlights the commitment to excellence that teachers, staff, families and communities have, as well as their dedication to be ‘All In’ for their students.”