Hamilton County Schools Superintendent Bryan Johnson emphasized accelerating through difficult times in his annual State of the System Address.
Identifying the global coronavirus pandemic, April 2020 tornado and nationwide civil unrest this past summer, Johnson likened progress made in the last few months to overcoming the difficulties of the Great Depression.
“In the midst of crisis, we accelerated,” he said Thursday night.
Johnson spoke at East Brainerd Elementary School, which was recently rebuilt after last year’s tornado. He began speaking after an introduction from Principal Saunya Goss and prerecorded comments from Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger and school board chairman Joe Wingate.
“There’s no playbook for navigating a global pandemic, and we’ve exerted great effort as a board in prioritizing the health and safety of our students, staff and families with the high-quality teaching expected of Hamilton County Schools,” Wingate said.