Why Director Pace is leaving

In last week's issue, the Lewis County Herald was given information that Director of Schools Benny Pace had announced his resignation during a teacher's meeting last Tuesday morning. Although Mr. Pace will be leaving, he is not resigning.

"I'm not resigning, I'm not stepping down.. I've been the Director for 19 years and I'm on a four year contract," said Mr. Pace. "The contract expires in June and I'm not asking for a renewal of contract. I'm going to fulfill my obligations to the school and retire in June."

Pace said he informed the teachers of his decision last week because it was the last meeting they would have all together, and he wished to tell them face to face.

"There's no negative [perspective]," said Director Pace. "I'm not quitting, I'm just retiring. I'm going out on my own terms because I'm choosing to. The board hasn't told me I need to; it's just the end of the contract. In a perfect world, I would have told the board and then told the teachers. But I realized before the meeting I would never be with the teachers again where they're all [present]."

One thing was made clear while talking to Mr. Pace, and it was that he wanted his departure to be positive.

"I don't have any animosity. I'm at the end of my career and I want my retirement to be positive," said Mr. Pace. "It's just time. I've made a lot of great memories here, met a lot of great people and made a lot of great friends."

Director Pace will be leaving the school system on good terms and in a positive way with the school system in great shape. Two schools were named a Rewards School, the new high school is well on its way, the school system is in good financial standing and personnel wise the school system is better than ever, according to Pace.

All the accomplishments, Mr. Pace pointed out, were not due to him but were attributed to the team of people he has had working alongside him; from teachers to behind-the-scenes administration coworkers.

As of now, Director Pace has no plans for the future. "I know I want to do something but I'm not sure what that will be," said Pace. "I did get put on the Hohenwald Housing Authority Board by Mayor [Danny] McKnight and I'm excited about that. I grew up there and... now I'll have the chance to make a difference there."

"This job is hard. There are a lot of sacrifices that had to be made and my family had to make sacrifices for me to be here too. My youngest son was one year old when I started being the director. I've missed football games and practices.. but the greatest thing was that they got to come to school with me," Mr. Pace said as he turned to the wall behind his computer. It was loaded with pictures. Pictures with his kids, teachers and other kids he had the opportunity to make a positive impact on.

"More than anything, this job is all about making a difference in these kids' lives," said Director Pace. "I won't have a hand in selecting who takes my place, that's something the Board [of Education] does, but I do hope that they choose someone who has the kids' best interest at heart."

Mr. Pace has worked in the education system for nearly thirty years. He first started by coaching on a volunteer basis while he went back to school to get his teaching degree. Then he became a teacher in 1988. Twelve years later he had made it to principal where he stayed three more years until eventually becoming Director of Schools.