It was announced this week that Dr. Janet Hurt will be leaving the Logan County schools central office to take a job with the Green River Regional Educational Cooperative (GRREC) and the Ohio Valley Educational Cooperative (OVEC) as the Project Director for the $41 million Race to the Top-District grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Education in late December.

Dr. Hurt had been serving as the Logan County assistant superintendent and will assume her new role on or about Feb. 19.

An author and specialist in the design and implementation of professional learning, Dr. Hurt is a former principal and has received numerous awards for her work as a school administrator.

In making the announcement, both GRREC Executive Director George Wilson and OVEC Chief Executive Officer Leon Mooneyhan noted the outstanding quality of candidates interviewed. Dr. Hurt brings to the position the necessary levels of expertise in curriculum and program implementation as well as instructional leadership. Most importantly, she has an overall passion for serving the students of the region, Wilson said.

“The RTT-D project director must have kids in mind first and foremost,” Wilson said. “Yes, the project director will manage the human and material resources of the project, but her chief role will be to make sure everything that happens over the next four years is in the best interest of the 59,000 kids in the project. Her record of service and single-mindedness clearly reflect her ability in that regard.”

In particular, Dr. Mooneyhan noted her varied experience and knowledge related to K-12 education.

“She has outstanding qualifications to be the director of the project, not only from a stand point of having a Ph.D., but with her experience as both a school and a central office administrator,” he said. “I am very confident that she will do an outstanding job in this leadership role.”

As project director, Dr. Hurt will provide overall supervision and management of the 60+ staff members implementing the project in 22 Kentucky school districts. The RTT-D project is a collaborative effort of GRREC and (OVEC). In all, 16 GRREC and 6 OVEC districts are participating in the national grant project.

Race to the Top-District is a 4-year U.S. Department of Education (ED) project. ED invited RTT-D applicants to submit proposals that personalize education for all students and impact the all-important relationship between educators and students. From a group of 372 applications, GRREC/OVEC proposal was selected as one of 16 awardees and was one of only two awardees to receive the maximum award amount. Entitled “A Race to kid•FRIENDLy Learning,” the project will improve student outcomes, including increase numbers of students who are college and/or career ready.

Implementation began in January 2013. School districts within the project include Adair County, Campbellsville Ind., Carroll County, Caverna Ind., Cloverport Ind., Daviess County, Green County, Hart County, Henry County, Logan County, Metcalfe County, Monroe County, Owen County, Owensboro Ind., Russell County, Shelby County, Simpson County, Spencer County, Taylor County, Trimble County, Union County, and West Point Ind.

GRREC and OVEC are two of eight educational cooperatives in the Commonwealth..