Kim Edwards Named Attendance Coordinator for Rutherford County Schools

By JAMES EVANS
Rutherford County Schools

Kim Edwards has been named the coordinator of attendance for Rutherford County Schools, Director of Schools Bill Spurlock announced.

Ms. Edwards has a good understanding of what the job entails and we are very confident in her abilities,” Spurlock said.

Edwards succeeds Tom Delbridge, who has held the position since 2012 and is retiring in December after more than 40 years as an educator with the school district. Director Spurlock praised Delbridge for his diligence in the position.

Edwards has served for the past year as an assistant principal at the new Rockvale High School, but has served in a variety of administration roles with the school district at both the middle and high school levels. In her new role as attendance coordinator, she will report to Dr. Jimmy Sullivan, assistant superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction.

“I am grateful for the confidence that Mr. Spurlock and Dr. Sullivan have shown in me and for giving me this new position,” Edwards said. “I’m excited for this challenge and look forward to working with the entire instruction department. Mr. Delbidge has done great work, and I’m glad that I’m going to get the chance to work with him and learn from him. He’s going to be an asset as I make the transition.”

The attendance department serves several vital functions.

In addition to tracking attendance at the schools, it also must ensure the accurate reporting of student enrollment figures to the Tennessee Department of Education. Those figures determine the amount of funding the school district receives.

The attendance department also maintains the student database program, which houses student academic data and other important information that is used at the state level. In addition, the attendance department oversees enrollment planning and student discipline appeals.

Edwards started her career as a math teacher at Smyrna Middle School. She later taught algebra at Riverdale before becoming an assistant principal at Oakland High School. In 2013, she was named the principal of Oakland Middle School until 2016, when she left to do adjunct work at Middle Tennessee State University.

She became an assistant principal at Rockvale last year and has worked with Principal Steve Luker to successfully launch the new school, which opened in August.

“It’s a challenge but my personality is problem-solving,” Edwards said of her new position. “The math part of me is interested in figuring out the data. Everything has to match up exactly — that’s how we get our funding.”

Edwards will assume the new role beginning in January but plans to work with Delbridge over the next month.