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Harlan Independent School District’s Superintendent Charles (CD) Morton is heading for new challenges soon, having decided to retire from the school system where he has worked his entire career and helmed for the past 13 years.

Morton, a 1987 graduate of Harlan High School, talked about his time at the Harlan Independent School District during a recent interview.

Morton was born and raised in Harlan County, attending Harlan Independent Schools all the way through high school.

“I grew up in Fairview,” Morton said. “I went to school here (Harlan Independent) the whole time.”

After completing his education and receiving his teaching credentials at Union, Morton returned to Harlan Independent Schools.

“I began my teaching career at the elementary school,” Morton remembers. “When it’s all said and done, when I retire I will have been here for 45 years either as a student or as an employee. I’ve been employed here for 33 years, 12 of those as Superintendent.”

Morton added that the Harlan Independent School District is where he wanted to spend his career.

“I started as an elementary school teacher at Harlan Elementary School,” Morton said. “It was the only place I applied, and I was lucky enough to get the job and begin my teaching career.”

In addition to teaching, Morton coached elementary and middle school basketball and football. Then, the technology bug bit the district.

“I tried to make myself indispensable,” Morton said. “In 1998, an influx of technology came in and I had an affinity for that.”

Morton was placed in the position of technology coordinator, where he was involved in projects such as installing fiber optic cable throughout the schools.

“I moved into the central office as director of districtwide services for more than a decade,” Morton said. “I was in that role for a long time.”

He remembers the decision to leave the classroom was not an easy one, but the chance to help lead the district into the more technologically dominant future was impossible to ignore.

“I loved teaching, and it was great being with the kids, but this was a great way to help teachers embrace what was coming and get prepared for instructional technology,” Morton said.

Morton became superintendent of Harlan Independent School District in 2013. He talked about some of the advances the district has made during his tenure, including offering more dual credit courses which allow students to receive both high school and college credit.

“Over the last six or seven years, I think the work we’ve done to equip our students with college credit before they enter college has been huge,” Morton said. “During my tenure, we expanded our dual credit and career pathway offerings dramatically. Most importantly, we have been able to pay for college-level courses for all of our students for the last 5 years, enabling our students to broaden their interests and exploration of a wide range of courses at the high school level. We have also had great success in our Advanced Placement courses, which, combined with the Dual Credit courses, give students a rigorous curriculum to help prepare them for a successful transition to college.”

Morton has also overseen many renovations to the district’s campus, many of those improvements having occurred recently.

“Over the last 3 years, we have renovated nearly every part of our campus, including the construction of a new football fieldhouse that includes a locker room and weight room,” Morton explained. “The renovations allowed us to improve the instructional spaces all across the district with new lighting, HVAC, and network equipment. Major renovations to the High School Gymnasium, bathrooms in all buildings, expanded and renovated cafeteria, and major upgrades and renovations to the Francis-Hamlin Auditorium. Also, a major investment in the Central Office facility to modernize it has just been completed. As a result, our students and staff can work and learn in modern spaces that are instrumental in the learning process.”

Morton has also seen that support services for students and families have been added to the district.

“Over the last 10 years, I was able to partner with numerous agencies to bring in more support staff, programs, and resources than ever before. We currently have in place full-time staff members who are solely focused on helping reduce barriers and supporting students for success. The wrap-around supports for families from Kindergarten through High School are more robust than they have ever been in our district, as a result, our student outcomes have seen significant gains during this time,” Morton said.

Possibly the most important achievement during Morton’s time as superintendent is elevating the district’s focus on student academic achievement.

“Our district, during my tenure, has been recognized by the US News and World Report as one of Kentucky’s best High Schools every year, we have been among the highest performing school districts in the state as it relates to the State Assessment given each year to students, our ACT scores have always been among the top in Kentucky and each our pace those in our region,” Morton said. “We have many classes that have ranked number one in the state in assessment areas when it comes to state testing. Finally, I have promoted and celebrated the hard work of our Academic Teams, who have achieved at the highest levels in our district’s history over the last ten years. Collectively at the Elementary, Middle, and High School levels, we have won the last six district championships at the District Governor’s Cup competitions and had some of the highest region and state finishes in school history.”

Morton also touched on the most difficult period during his time as superintendent, the COVID 19 pandemic that caused many issues for schools.

“We were about two years ahead of a lot of folks in our region in that we had already equipped our students and staff with one-to-one devices,” Morton explained. “Everybody already had access to a laptop. We had already done a couple years of training with our staff on delivering instruction electronically, so when COVID hit, it was not easy but we already had the tools in place and our people were equipped to help our kids continue to learn.”

While the COVID pandemic was a difficult period, the district got through it better than many would think possible.

“One of the obstacles it created, you can’t be around everybody,” Morton said. “I think the staff at Harlan Independent’s willingness to do what we asked them to do, which was make sure we were teaching classes and connecting with kids every day – and it wasn’t just a check in, for example we would teach English during second period and they would have to be online to do that – we did that through COVID to the fullest extent possible and it allowed us to bounce back much faster. Our test scores right after COVID were really good and they’ve continued to be good.”

Morton says the aspect he is most proud of is the continued improved academic performance of the district’s students over the past 12 years.

“As a district, it is the most important thing we do. Our number one priority is to equip and prepare students for the next step,” Morton said.

Morton mentioned one of his favorite parts of the job is seeing students from all types of backgrounds and situations succeed.

“I try to be super visible and a part of everything that’s going on because I love what happens at the school,” Morton said. “I love going to ball games and events, I love the fact that parents and grandparents are there supporting their kids…it’s important to have somebody in your corner. I like being a part of that. It is really gratifying when former students come back and say ‘my first year of college was easier than it was graduating from Harlan High School’ or ‘I was so prepared for that chemistry class’ or ‘I killed my U.S. History course.’ You can see they’ve got this confidence, and they finally believe what I’ve been telling them and what their teachers have been telling them: ‘you may be from this small town in rural eastern Kentucky…but you have been really well prepared. You need to walk out of these doors with the knowledge you can compete for anything you want to if you’re willing to work for it.’ Every year, I get to see that come to life.”

Morton and his wife Jennifer have three children who graduated from Harlan Independent Schools, Ethen (2017), Charles David (2020), and Ella (2021). He emphasized the importance of his family and how they have made a difference in the way he approached the job.

“Being the superintendent isn’t easy, and it isn’t easy on your kids,” Morton said. “All three of them came through the system, and my wife works here.”

He explained that with his family so involved in the school system, occasionally some aspects of the job could be difficult but overall it was an arrangement that has worked out well.

“This job is a job I always respected, and I try to represent and elevate the position,” Morton said. “I was never entitled to this position, I had to work for it, and I worked really hard at trying to make the community and the school system proud of the work I was doing.”

After retiring from Harlan Independent Schools, Morton will be facing new challenges.

“I’m going to be the Executive Director for Teach for America Appalachia,” Morton said.

Morton also mentioned Dr. Jerry Bryson and Pat Bryson were big influences on him and helped steer him to a career in education.

“Dr. Bryson is the first person who ever suggested I could work in a school system,” Morton said. “They were instrumental in painting a picture for me that I could see and latch on to.”

Overall, Morton has enjoyed his time at Harlan Independent Schools.

“I have loved working in this district,” Morton said. “I’ve been rewarded with a lot of great days here. I’ve had some really hard days, but I’ve never had a bad day.”