The man currently heading the Washoe County School District in Reno, Nev., was announced Thursday morning as the new Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools chief.
Heath Morrison's district is about half the size of CMS.
As leader of the Washoe County School District, Morrison raised the graduation rate of the district by 14 percentage points in two years. He also has a record of improving test scores.
During a phone interview Thursday afternoon, Morrison said he was excited to be named CMS' next superintendent.
"It is very exhilarating to have this opportunity," he said. "We have to be dedicated to get every student to walk across the stage and get that diploma."
He said he would spend a lot of his early days in Charlotte actively engaging people within and outside the CMS community to understand the community's perceptions and wants for the school district. He spent a lot of time working with lawmakers at all levels of government to secure the resources the Reno school district needed, Morrison said.
Morrison said news of his offer from CMS is already spreading throughout the district. He said he's receiving plenty of well wishes there.
"(They say,) 'We hate to see you go, but if you do, thank you for what you did for our schools and our community,'" Morrison said.
At the press conference Thursday morning, CMS officials described what it was that attracted them to Morrison's candidacy.
"We felt he brought a certain charisma, a certain energy, and academic excellence this district really needed to move toward," said CMS Board Chairwoman Ericka Ellis-Stewart, when asked why Morrison was selected.
She said they were in the process of negotiating Morrison's contract.
Ellis-Stewart also said the board felt Morrison would "help us rebuild the trust that is needed in this community."
Morrison is not in Charlotte currently, but Eyewitness News has reached out to the school district in Nevada for comment.
Just moments after news broke that one of the three Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools superintendent candidates dropped out of the race this week, school district officials announced a press conference to name its new superintendent.
According to officials at Memphis City Schools, Superintendent Kriner Cash withdrew during a meeting Wednesday night. Cash was considered a front-runner in the superintendent search because the size of the Memphis school system is close in size to CMS.
Ellis-Stewart said Cash's withdrawal was "a family decision."
Ellis-Stewart said board members had talked with the third finalist, Ann Clark, who is a member of CMS' central office, and hoped that she would remain in the district. Clark has worked her way up through CMS' ranks from teacher to principal to administrator over the last 25 years.
"She indicated she has a loyalty to CMS," Ellis-Stewart said.
Morrison is holding a press conference at 1 p.m. EST to discuss CMS' announcement.
WSOC
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