Willhoite Named Ky School Association School Resource Officer Of The Year

In recent years, the Carroll County School District has implemented numerous safety-related improvements to its facilities and day-to-day operations.

Photo Courtesy of Carroll County Schools

(Carrollton, Ky.) - The Kentucky Association of School Resource Officers has named Mark Willhoite as the 2019-2020 Administrator of the Year. Carroll County School District Superintendent Danny Osborne nominated Willhoite, who was chosen for the distinction by KYASRO school resource officers.

The KYASRO Administrator of the Year award recognizes an “administrator or educator who has had a positive impact on their school community and has demonstrated support for a safe and secure learning environment.”

“Mr. Willhoite has developed outstanding relationships with local law enforcement, as well as with county and city officials,” Osborne said in his nomination letter. “These relationships led to the district being able to field an SRO in each of our four schools. Those relationships are the key to our safety success. Having SROs in our schools is key to decreasing response time, but there are other, just-as-important benefits: the trust and friendships that our SROs develop with our students and staff are incredible, and Mr. Willhoite paved the way to making that happen.”

Willhoite is a 1985 graduate of Carroll County High School. After earning a bachelor’s degree from the University of Louisville in 1990, he began his teaching career in the Carroll County School District. Willhoite served for 8 years as a teacher before embarking on a second career in banking and finance. From 2000 – 2009, he worked in auditing and risk management for different entities, such as the Royal Bank of Canada and Fifth Third Bank. Willhoite returned to education in 2009 as a teacher before moving into administration. After a brief stint in Gallatin County as an assistant principal, he came back to Carroll County High School, where he
served as assistant principal from 2012 to 2016.

Willhoite has been serving as the Director of Pupil Personnel and the Chief Operations Officer of the Carroll County School District since July of 2016. During that time, he has systematically worked to improve the safety and security of the district’s staff and students. Among other improvements, the State School Security Marshall noted in a recent report that the district utilizes “advanced safety features that go beyond what is required for compliance” and that “It is apparent that everyone in the school is striving to make the school a safer, more secure school.”

In recent years, the Carroll County School District has implemented numerous safety-related improvements to its facilities and day-to-day operations:

- Raptor Technologies Visitor management system
- Bus Buddie bus tracking system
- Door buzzer entry systems at all schools
- Badge-linked access control for employees
- School Resource Officers at all schools
- Advanced district-wide camera system
- Additional pedestrian safety striping around schools

As DPP/COO, Willhoite’s responsibilities include, among other things, the following:

- Overseeing student attendance in the district
- Serving as a liaison between the district and parents in regard to district policies and procedures
- Supervising classified employees
- Maintaining an accurate census of all children between the ages of six and seventeen years living within the school district
- Managing the classified evaluation system
- Interpreting pupil personnel policies and methods to school personnel, parents, children, and community members

“You might think that someone so safety-minded is going to be stern or always looking for a ‘gotcha,’” Osborne said. “That is not Mr. Willhoite. You will look long and hard to find someone more friendly and good-natured. He can set a room at ease even in the most tense circumstances. He is a true people person, and that serves him well in his safety role because relationships are the key to safety. I am grateful to KYASRO and also to our local school resource officers, first responders, and local leaders for their support.”

Willhoite will be recognized at the annual KYASRO conference in July.