Russellville City Schools Superintendent Dr. Heath Grimes received the Dr. James A. Street award June 13 during the Council for Leaders in Alabama Schools (CLAS) annual convention in Mobile.

The award comes in recognition of his lifelong work to ensure quality education for the children of Alabama. 
 The CLAS Board of Directors presents the award to a person, persons, institution or organization in recognition of exceptional service in the interests of administrators, supervisors and public education.

It may be given to recognize a single, significant contribution during a given year, or it may be for a series of contributions over a longer period of time. 
 Grimes received the award for his significant and impactful contributions to English language learner education, something that has been very important to him with RCS having the highest percentage of EL students in the state when he first came to RCS in 2015.

RCS currently has the second highest EL percentage in the state.
 When Grimes, came to RCS and assessed the district’s demographics and state test scores, he decided to work to make these assessments equitable for EL students and the districts who educated them. Since then, he has made significant impacts to EL education across the state, including founding and becoming the first president of the CLAS affiliate organization Alabama Leaders Advocating for English Learners (ALA-EL).

Grimes also led the charge and assisted in writing the education bill that takes a commonsense approach to removing EL students from a school’s achievement component of accountability for the student’s first five years in Alabama schools.

He has also advocated for policy changes that lead to the formation of the EL instructional department at the Alabama Department of Education. He also brought nationwide attention to the issue with a recent Education Week article on how RCS is leading the way in EL education.

The award is named in honor of the first executive director of CLAS, James A. Street, and is presented at the CLAS Annual Convention in the years the board of directors determines there is a suitable recipient. 
 “I am honored to receive the James A. Street memorial award,” said Grimes.

“I’m honored to be in the company of the other recipients,” he added. “Many of the past recipients are my mentors. Dr. Street left a legacy in public education in Alabama. I can only hope to do the same. I am absolutely honored and humbled to receive an award in memory of Dr. Street. I can only hope to leave a legacy like this. I’m thankful to those who nominated and to the CLAS board of directors for bestowing this honor upon me. I’m honored, humbled, and so thankful.”

On June 21, Grimes is set to accept the passing of the gavel at the end of the School Superintendents of Alabama conference (SSA), thereby assuming his role as president for one year.

“It’s an honor to be elected by my peers and selected by the organization as their president,” Grimes said. “I believe the role brings more positive attention to Russellville City Schools, and I look forward to representing RCS, our organization and our state at the national level. I’m excited about this opportunity and look forward to serving.”

Grimes recently announced his forthcoming resignation as RCS superintendent, to go into effect after the end of the next school year. To read more about that, see the article in last week’s paper, visit our website or social media pages for the link or click HERE.