Dr. Mark Scott talks retirement and the next chapter after 11 years serving as Superintendent of Schools 

PERRY — Houston County Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Mark Scott, is set to retire at the end of the week, marking the end of an era after being in the position for 11 years. 

We sat down with Dr. Scott to discuss his time as Superintendent of Schools, his upcoming retirement, and what’s next. 

Owen Jones: What has been your favorite part of being the Superintendent of Schools?

Dr. Mark Scott: My favorite part is the people, the students, the teachers, the families, the engagement in the community, the administrators and working with the Board [of Education]. You spend a lot of time with these people, and they become part of your work family as you go through good times and tough times with them. I think most people, when they retire from a job or a career, would agree that people are the ones you’re going to miss the most. 

I would say that the people are what I enjoyed the most about the job, and then, certainly, the students. Seeing all the achievements and the success that our students achieve over time, and witnessing the success of our students, is also a highlight. This year, the seniors who just graduated were in second grade when I became superintendent. 

You see students as elementary students, middle school students, and you see them come to board meetings. You see them recognized for their academics and extracurricular activities, and it’s a unique perspective to be able to see students grow, thrive, and become young adults. I think education puts you in that unique perspective to allow you to watch that happen over time.

Jones: How would you describe your time here as Superintendent of Schools?

Scott: I think it’s a challenging responsibility.  I’ve always tried to approach it by leaving it better than when I found it. I’ve always tried to put teachers and students first as a priority. I’ve had a little motto that we have two types of employees, those that teach and those that support teachers. I’ve always seen my role as a role of supporting teachers as our board has done a great job of really backing that up through pay raises and making sure that our raises was adequate to be competitive in the market, not only to for the teachers, but also recognize those supporting teachers need to have competitive salaries as well. 

Across my tenure, the Board has also recognized the need to give our non-teaching staff those cost-of-living raises as well. At the same time, we continue to be good stewards by having one of the lowest millage rates that our school district has ever had, as we had a historic reduction in the millage last year for this current calendar year. In 2024, we dropped the millage rate by almost one and a half mills. That was a significant drop in the millage rate, and I’m proud of that work as well. 

Jones: Why have you decided to retire? 

Scott: This is 37 years in education, 40 years overall, in the retirement system. I kind of felt like it’s time to get renewed and focus on a different type of stress, I guess, as this is a job that brings a lot of stress. There’s no off time. You are on duty all the time. It just felt like it was time for a change of pace. 

The tenure for superintendents in the state of Georgia is about three years, or less than three years. So, 11 years is a long time to be superintendent. Being a superintendent in the 12th largest school district in the State is challenging. I’ve enjoyed every minute of it, but I just felt like it was time. 

I have all the confidence that Dr. Rogers is going to continue to thrive and have our system continue to be an example of districts across the State. 

Jones: What kind of legacy do you wish to leave behind now that you have retired? 

Scott: We’ve accomplished a great deal. When we started, we looked at our facilities, and we needed to do renovations. We were also growing, and we had to balance the classroom space we needed with the classroom renovations we required. We renovated as many as three schools, and I learned pretty quickly that was not the best idea because it’s a very difficult and very short window of time to completely renovate the schools. We’re very proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish with that. 

We’ve been able to open four schools during my tenure, and we’ve also had our eye on the future and the continued growth of our school district. We were the 14th largest district when I became superintendent and now the 12th largest district, so we had to continue to buy land to build schools. We’ve purchased over 300 acres of land. 

Through partnerships with municipalities, including the County Commissioners, we were able to build the aquatic center, and with the City of Warner Robins, we constructed the tennis facility. We were able to get a central bus facility. 

From an academic perspective, one of the things I’m most proud of is the power of 18, which allows our students to receive 18 college credits without leaving their school campus. What we found out was that early on, dual enrollment participation mainly depended upon students having transportation. If a student didn’t have transportation to leave campus and attend a college campus to take a dual enrollment class, they were unable to participate. 

What we try to do is figure out a way to offer dual enrollment without the student having to have transportation. We brought dual enrollment on campus and allowed our students to participate, and we’ve got one of the largest dual enrollment participation in the state of Georgia. I saw on several of the graduation programs that the teal cord recognized that they had completed the power of 18. I saw a lot of students walk across the stage this past weekend with those cords, meaning that they had accomplished the power of 18. 

Another thing is our graduation rate. We’ve continued to work on improving our graduation rate. Since the State started collecting cohort graduation data, which compares students who started in ninth grade and graduate four years later, we were at 76.8%, and we’re now over 91.2%. We set a goal that we would go over 92% this year, and it looks like we’re on track to make that goal. 

We’re excited about the fact that we’ve continued to increase our graduation rate and hold the standards high. We’re still seeing increased test scores, and our schools have really worked hard to make sure that they’re doing everything they possibly can to make sure that students graduate. 

Jones: What do you want to say to your colleagues, the Executive Cabinet and the Board of Education?

Scott: They’ve been a great group of people to work with, and they’ve been a good team to work with. They’ve always kept their eye on the prize and focused on doing what was right for students. I think as long as you do what’s right and do it the right way, you’re deciding for the right reasons, regardless of what other people say, then you’re on solid ground. 

It’s always easy to criticize someone who has to make those tough decisions, and you just have to follow your own process and procedures, then make a decision about the students, just as you would for your own child. We’ve got a great team and a great group of administrators, and we’ve really got a great community. We’re in good hands.

Jones: What advice would you give to the incoming Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Richard Rogers?

Scott: Use the information, gather the information, and make decisions based on the data, informed by the policies and procedures you have in place. You have good people, and you lean on those people, let them support you and help you. It’s definitely a team sport.  I think Dr. Rogers realizes that it’s a team sport, and he’ll be fine with it. He’s got a good board, and they’re going to be supportive. 

One of the things that I always told the Board is I’ll never surprise you, and please don’t surprise me. There’s no reason to talk about something for the first time at a board meeting. If you have a question, please call me and keep the lines of communication open. I think he does an outstanding job of communicating with the board members and ensuring that if they have a question, they know they can call him. 

We’ve had that model, so to speak, where board members are free to call any of the Executive Cabinet members to ask them a question about their department, and I know that Dr. Rogers will maintain that same type of relationship. Just keep a focus on the students and treat the teachers right, so they’ll take care of the students, and everything will take care of itself from there. 

Jones: What’s next for yourself? 

Scott: I have been announced as the Vice President for Strategic Initiatives at CGTC, so I’ll be working at Central Georgia Technical College. We’re excited about a project we’re working on, which is a partnership with the School District. This will be an opportunity for me to continue working with the school district, and it is with the STEM Allied Healthcare project that we propose to build out on Highway 41, across from the new Flint property. I’ll be responsible for the planning of that project. 

What that will be is that students in high school will start working toward those career fields in Allied Health, EMTs, surge techs and those kinds of programs. It will really go hand in hand with the programs we’re offering at our Career Academy now. 

We’ll give them an opportunity to have paid internships when they do their clinicals, and then go into a paid position upon graduation. It’s really about workforce development in the healthcare field. It’s an exciting project, and it’ll be a project where I have the opportunity not only to work with Houston County schools but also to work with other counties in Central Georgia Tech’s service area. 

I’ll continue to work with school superintendents and still be able to experience some aspects of the K-12 world, but at the same time, I’ll be working in the college environment. 

Jones: Do you have any final thoughts about your time here as Houston County Superintendent of Schools? 

Scott: Houston County Schools have been great to me, as it’s been a great career, and I appreciate the Board’s confidence in me to be the superintendent. I wish them all the best in the future.