School superintendent tasks Brimm with new administrative duties

Additional changes in the make-up of the administration of the Grady County School System were approved unanimously by the Grady County Board of Education during a special called meeting Tuesday morning.
Washington Middle School Principal Tilda Brimm is assuming additional duties as the new assistant superintendent for community relations. According to Grady County School Superintendent Dr. Kermit Gilliard, Brimm will spend the majority of the day working from the school system central office but she will continue to manage and oversee the operation of WMS.
As part of the approved reorganization, WMS assistant principals Justin Amaro and Natalie Hudson have been promoted to associate principals.
Rounding out the administrative team at WMS will be two new assistant principals, Dr. Ansu Mason and Thomas (Chad) Parkerson.
The staff changes announced this week follow the recent moves involving two former assistant superintendents. Dr. Gilliard appointed former assistant superintendent Kevin Strickland the new principal of Southside Elementary School, a post he has held on an interim basis since January.
Dr. Gilliard also reassigned former assistant superintendent Laura Elliott to the CEO of College, Career, Guidance and Student Affairs at Cairo High School. In addition to those duties, Elliott will continue to serve as the District Director of Performance Evaluations.
In other recent moves, federal programs director Janet Walden was named assistant superintendent of K-8 curriculum and CHS assistant principal Tammy Donalson was put in charge of 9-12 curriculum.
“I’m excited to have the opportunity to work closely with Ms. Brimm again. Having spent four years together when I was principal at Washington, we have developed a great working relationship and I am confident that will be true at the central office. She knows Cairo and Grady County and is familiar with the families we serve. I have full confidence in her ability to work with them and help foster an even better relationship between the school system and community,” Dr. Gilliard said.
In addition to serving as the system’s public relations point person, Ms. Brimm will also meet with parents and guardians who have issues or complaints and will work to resolve those issues.
“For the next school term she will remain principal of WMS, but the majority of her time will be spent downtown,” Dr. Gilliard said.
In the coming weeks, the superintendent and newly appointed Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum Janet Walden and Ms. Brimm will be meeting to divide up additional duties and responsibilities.
Brimm began her career in the local schools in 1997 as a teacher at Washington. In 1999, she accepted a position with the Thomasville City Schools and worked there until 2004 when she returned to Grady County Schools. In 2008, she was appointed an assistant principal at
Cairo High School for one year and then she was transferred to WMS before becoming the principal in 2013.
Both Amaro and Hudson have only been at WMS for the current term.
Amaro came to work for the Grady County School System in January 2007 as a teacher at Cairo High School. He taught at the high school for seven-and-a-half years before being named Whigham assistant principal two years ago, and in 2017 he was transferred to WMS as assistant principal.
Hudson previously served as Northside assistant principal before being moved to Washington Middle School as an assistant principal in 2017. She came to work as a teacher at Northside in July 2005 and taught there for 10 years.
New assistant principal Dr. Ansu Mason is currently the school system’s virtual school director and is based at Crossroads on the campus of Cairo High School. He came to work for the local school system in 2011 and was appointed the virtual school director in 2017.
Assistant Principal Parkerson, who is also the CHS head baseball coach, is currently an In-School Suspension teacher at WMS. He began his education career in Ware County Schools in 2000 before moving to Thomas County Schools in 2004, where he worked until coming here in 2017. In addition to his assistant principal duties, Parkerson will continue to coach the high school baseball team.
Dr. Gilliard said he is beefing up the administrative staff at WMS to address the needs of the children.
“Middle school is very challenging and we want to make sure we have the resources in place to insure our students can be successful. In middle school, there are academic, emotional and discipline issues to deal with. I have confidence in this team of administrators working together to make Washington an even greater school,” Dr. Gilliard said.