Dr. Tammy Shelton was named the new Danville School District superintendent in a special called meeting of the school board Friday afternoon.

Her contract is for $138,000 a year, and begins July 1, running through June 30, 2022.

While introducing Shelton to the small audience attending the meeting in the DHS cafeteria, board Chair Paige Matthews said Shelton is a Kentucky native and is returning from Tennessee where she has spent, “25 years of her career improving education for students of all ages.”

Shelton earned her masters degree and an educational specialist degree in educational administration and a doctorate of education in curriculum and instruction from Tennessee State University in 2007.

Matthews said, “Most recently she has served as the senior executive director of content and assessment design from the Tennessee Department of Education. In this role, she worked with teachers and leaders from across the state on academic standards, instructional materials and assessment readiness. She was responsible for all academic content, assessment development and curricular resources fo the entire state of Tennessee.

After the announcement, Shelton said, “My strength is in curriculum and instruction, that’s what I’ve really been focused on.”

She said she was looking forward to “digging into the data in the district and seeing what we can do” to improve instruction in the classrooms and help students be college and career ready.

During the meeting, board member Steve Becker said all of the special meetings searching for the right person for the job “…was definitely work our time and effort, and we all feel very good and were unanimous on Dr. Shelton, and board unity. We’re excited what she’s going to bring to our district.”