Rodney Bullard, the Albany High School principal who helped oversee double-digit improvements in the school's graduate rate and a boost in overall student achievement, has been named the new deputy superintendent after being approved by the Dougherty County Board of Education on Wednesday. 

Bullard is the first major hire by Associate Superintendent and Chief Business Officer Kenneth Dyer since being tapped to replace Dr. David Mosely as superintendent on July 1. 

As deputy superintendent, Bullard will provide oversee all activities within the Division of Support Services, including Athletics, Ombudsman Services, Residency Verification (School Zoning), Student Discipline (Tribunals) and Student Support Services.  He will also serve as the superintendent’s Chief of Staff and acts on behalf of the Superintendent in his absence.

"It’s a privilege and an honor to serve as the deputy superintendent of the Dougherty County School System," Bullard said. "I’m very excited about the opportunity to assist in the development of all stakeholders. I believe we have created a great foundation and I look forward to building upon that success."

Mr. Bullard is a 1991 Bethune-Cookman College graduate. He played baseball and majored in Business Administration with an emphasis in Marketing.

Upon graduation, Mr. Bullard returned to his hometown in Miller County where he embraced his love of sports and working with children.

Mr. Bullard began working as a substitute teacher and volunteer coach and ,with encouragement from family and friends, went back to school and pursued a degree in education and served as the assistant baseball coach at Albany State University.

Mr. Bullard has served as a teacher, coach, athletic director, assistant principal and principal.

During his tenure as principal of Mitchell County Middle School, he led the team that received many accolades such as:

• Made AYP for first time in school history two consecutive years

• Received Turnaround School Award 2009-2010 by GADOE

• Increased CRCT ELA/Reading scores by 18.3%

• Increased CRCT Math scores by 16.7%

• Increased SWD CRCT Math scores by 36%

• Increased SWD CRCT ELA/Reading scores by 40.2%

• Decreased student absenteeism by 13.5%

 After setting the bar for Mitchell County Middle School, Mr. Bullard felt the need to expand his educational horizons and explore other challenges.

He was hired by Valdosta City Schools to become that district’s Curriculum Director for Secondary Education.

In this role, his responsibilities included being an instructional leader responsible for providing ongoing development, implementation, coordination and improvement of the instructional program of the district’s secondary schools curriculum; and creating an environment committed to team based school improvement, collaboration, data-based decision making, and educational excellence for all students.

 After two-and-a-half years in Valdosta, Mr. Bullard ventured back into the school building and became principal of Albany High School in July 2013.

 In this role Albany High experienced several gains. He created a culture of ongoing and deliberate collaboration among internal and external stakeholders with established a reputation throughout the state as a turnaround leader. Under his watch, the school:

• Increased Graduation Rate from 54.5% to 84.7%

• Increased test scores and overall student achievement

• Implemented School Improvement Grant

• Was named 2017 Advanced Placement Honor school according to the Georgia Department of Education

 In addition to his day-to-day responsibilities, Mr. Bullard serves as a member of the Talent for Turnaround and Leadership Academy (US Department of Education) and the Albany State Principal Preparation Program Initiative (Wallace Foundation). He lives in Albany, Georgia with his lovely wife, Shay, and their three children and grandson, Aerial, Rodney Jr., Sydney and Aden.