Hamilton County Schools Superintendent Bryan Johnson will donate salary bonuses he earned this year thanks to the district’s “unprecedented” TNReady and TVAAS results to student scholarships in honor of his late mother.
Johnson announced the creation of the LaBrenda Johnson Memorial Scholarships at Ooltewah High School on Thursday, just a week after announcing what he called “historic student progress.”
Johnson will create the fund by donating $15,000, which he will receive since the district earned a Level 5 TVAAS score, per his contract. All Hamilton County seniors will be eligible to apply for the scholarships.
“I’m appreciative of our teachers, I’m appreciative of our leaders and I’m appreciative of you and what you did last year and what our school district did,” Johnson told Ooltewah High’s seniors, who were gathered in the school’s gymnasium for the announcement. “When we talk about student achievement what it really means is that students are becoming better prepared for the future, better prepared for post-secondary, better prepared for life after high school, and that’s ultimately our goal as a school district.”
Hamilton County Schools Superintendent Bryan Johnson announced the creation of the LaBrenda Johnson Memorial Scholarships in honor of his late mother at Ooltewah High School on August 22, 2019. Johnson will donate $15,000 he received as a performance bonus to create the fund. Photo courtesy of Hamilton County Schools. Contributed Photo/Times Free PressJohnson’s mother, LaBrenda Sonnette Johnson, died in 2017, just days before he interviewed for the superintendent position in Hamilton County. She was one of the first black students to integrate the University of South Carolina and went on to work as a social worker and serve as a caregiver for several members of Johnson’s family.