Chris Barbic, superintendent of the Achievement School District, speaks at Howard High School. Howard is included on a list of the state’s worst-performing schools, which puts it under the ASD’s jurisdiction.In his attempts at turning around Howard School of Academics and Technology, Chris Barbic won’t turn the school upside-down – at least not yet.
Barbic recently started as the superintendent of Tennessee’s Achievement School District, created in 2010 and made up of five of the state’s lowest-performing schools – a list that includes Howard and four Memphis schools.
Barbic, who was in Chattanooga Friday to visit Howard, said he’ll use this year to learn more about the five schools and make sure they’ve got adequate resources.
“We really need to understand what’s been happening here,” he said. “We want to make sure whatever we do is thoughtful.”
Last year was supposed to have served as a planning year for the district, but Barbic, a Vanderbilt University graduate, wasn’t hired until May and he started last month.