After nearly 10 years with the district, Assistant Superintendent Josh Morris will be the acting superintendent at Portsmouth City Schools, following the retirement of outgoing superintendent Scott Dutey.
Before working in education Morris worked in plastics engineering, but the work kept him away from his family and he wanted a career that would allow him to be more available and pursue a career of service. He went back to college and completed his education degree, and he was hired as a math teacher at South Webster High School in 2008. After six years he briefly moved to Minford schools to work as an assistant principal, and in the 2014-15 school year he moved to Portsmouth City Schools.
“This is home to me. I live in Portsmouth. I graduated from the district in 1999. Even though I am grateful for my prior opportunities, I appreciated my time in other districts and I have learned much from them, the goal was always to come back to Portsmouth City Schools and give back to a community and a district that gave so much to me growing up,” he said.
At Portsmouth City Schools, Morris was an assistant principal in the high school and elementary buildings. After a few years he transitioned to the central office to handle the district’s curriculum and federal grant programs. At that time, Superintendent Dutey made it known that he would be retiring at some point, and Morris was officially hired as assistant superintendent in 2021 to begin learning how to step in when that time arrived.
“I already had very strong experience in the teaching and learning side of it, and that gave me the opportunity to learn the non teaching and learning operations of the district,” Morris said.
As acting superintendent, Morris said his goal is to continue to assess the strengths and challenges of the district. He pointed to significant academic growth within the district, and continuing the plans that led to those gains.
“We’ve done a lot of work over the years preparing our students to be 21st Century learners, and being ready for a job market where some of those jobs haven’t even been created yet. Understanding the world of cyber-security and artificial intelligence, and developing great communicators so no matter what job market they’re in they’re able to collaborate and be an effective team member,” Morris said.
Beginning this school year the main priority for the district will be focusing on a new early warning system that allows teachers, staff, and administrators to better identify students who may be struggling with attendance,behavior, or academics, and develop plans to help them get back on track. Portsmouth Schools was asked by the state of Ohio to be one of the first pilots of this program before it’s rolled out to all Ohio school districts in the coming years.
“It’s no secret that we are a high-needs district, and working at Portsmouth City Schools is a calling. One of the best things is that we come in everyday and we are connected with our students to help them at every single level. If they need clothing, we have processes in place to get them clothes. We have food pantries and we’ve partnered with Steven A. Hunter’s Power Pack Program. We have lots of people at every level in every building that work to meet those students’ needs,” Morris said. “Beyond teaching and learning, a big part of what we do is identify students needs outside of the classroom and work to make sure they have their basic needs met.”
As acting superintendent, Morris assures the district and community would get “every bit of his heart” to make sure the district continues to improve and moves forward in a positive manner.
“I am going to commit to doing the best work I can every day that I’m in this district, and it’s my goal to be in this district for a very long time,” Morris said.
For more information about Portsmouth City Schools, visit them online at www.portsmouthtrojans.net, or follow the school’s page on Facebook.