A former turnaround principal is returning to Memphis as an assistant superintendent overseeing the Innovation Zone and other school turnaround work for Shelby County Schools, a spokeswoman confirmed Monday.
Antonio Burt started his new job last week under Chief of Schools Sharon Griffin, for whom he worked previously as a principal in the iZone that she supervised. He’ll take the helm of the nationally known turnaround program and also provide oversight for the district’s other schools performing in the state’s bottom 5 percent. Those include some schools receiving new resources this year under Superintendent Dorsey Hopson’s new plan to invest in struggling schools instead of just closing them.
The appointment is the first big hire under Griffin, who was promoted in January to supervise and support all of the district’s principals and teachers. It also continues a reshuffling of top academic positions since Griffin’s promotion and the departure of academics chief Heidi Ramirez a month later.
The district has no plans to replace Ramirez at this time, said spokeswoman Natalia Powers.
Burt was an iZone principal at Ford Road Elementary School until his departure in 2015 to work for the New Teacher Project, a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based nonprofit organization that helps to recruit, train and place effective teachers in high-need districts. He came back to Memphis soon after to work for the state-run Achievement School District, though only for six months, according to his Linkedin page.
For the last year and a half, Burt was director of school transformation at Florida’s Pinellas County Schools, whose low-performing schools were analyzed in the Tampa Bay Times’ award-winning series Failure Factories. He had been hired to lead a new “transformation zone” which, similar to the iZone model, provides extra resources to struggling schools.
Burt began his education career in 2003 with the former Memphis City Schools and in 2012 took the helm at Ford Road, where he gained national attention for his turnaround work and became a champion of principal autonomy.
“We are very excited have have Dr. Burt back in our district serving our highest-need schools,” a district spokeswoman said. “We know that with his proven track record in school turnaround, we will continue to move toward our goal of providing high-quality school options for every child.”
