Earlier this year, Jessica Addison was named the next superintendent of Todd County Schools.
She will officially take over the position on July 1, following the retirement of current superintendent Mark Thomas at the end of June.
Addison, who currently serves as assistant superintendent of Christian County Public Schools, brings more than two decades of experience in education, much of it rooted in Todd County.
“I live here, reside here, have lived here my whole life,” Addison said. “I started my career at Todd Central here in Todd County, and I taught there for eight and a half years.”
Addison also worked for the Kentucky Department of Education before joining Christian County’s school system. Now, she’s returning to the community that helped shape her.
“Todd County is an easy place to live, and we’ve always loved being a part of this community,” she said. “A lot of people that are still here were critical in my younger years as I was developing and growing, and so it’s really exciting for me to be able to come back and give back.”
On Monday night, Addison attended her first Todd County Board of Education meeting to observe and get a feel for how the board conducts business.
“They really do a great job working through each board agenda item in that work session,” she said, referring to a recent planning meeting. “That makes the board meeting a lot more efficient because they’ve already asked questions and worked out a lot of the conversation.”
Although she doesn’t officially begin her new role until July, Addison has already begun meeting with staff, students, parents and community members, as well as working closely with Thomas to ensure a smooth transition.
“I really wanted to spend the first kind of window of time here just learning, listening, making observations about what’s working well and what needs to be continued,” she said. “I want to be careful not to make premature decisions on what might need to be changed or added without having more information.”
Addison said she’s encouraged by the conversations she’s having so far.
“People are excited. People have a lot of ideas,” she said. “We have a lot of great people here, and they have a lot of great ideas about what to do for students and how to make operations more efficient.”
As she wraps up her contract in Christian County and prepares for her new position, Addison said she’s proud to return to a district and community she knows well.
“I’m excited to get to come back and give back from this position,” she said. “It’s just a great community.”
