The Troy Board of Education Monday unanimously approved for Brock Kelley to become the new principal at Charles Henderson High School following the resignation of Brent Harrison last month.

Kelley served as the assistant principal under Harrison last year.

“It’s an honor to be selected,” Kelley said. “It’s a great school and school system and the staff and students are excellent. I’m excited to take on the challenge and I’m ready to get to work.”

Dr. Lee Hicks, superintendent of Troy City Schools, said it was a tough decision with many candidates that could have fit well in the position.

“It was great to see how many people we could have picked from within the system without slowing down one bit,” Hicks said. “As a whole, the committee felt like Brock was the right person to take the position.”

Hicks said that Kelley’s expertise in special education and crisis prevention and intervention were two areas that helped Kelley stand out.

The board also voted unanimously to approve a 4 percent pay raise for teachers and administrators and a 2 percent raise for any staff making above $75,000 a year. The raise is in line with the bill passed by the state legislature in April to increase the education budget and raise the pay of most teachers and administrators by 4 percent.

The personnel action report reveals that four teachers have resigned over the summer at Charles Henderson, including baseball coach William Teal. Hicks said that he hopes to have the positions filled by next Monday. The school will also have to fill Kelley’s former position as assistant principal at Charles Henderson.

The school system will also need to fill one teacher position at Troy Elementary School.

Hicks brought forward a policy for a Troy City Virtual High School, consistent with an act passed by the Alabama State Board of Education that requires a virtual school option for eligible students in ninth through twelfth grades. There will be a 30-day period for consideration before the board can approve the policy.

Hicks said the policy was “vanilla” in order to be able to adapt to the fluidity of the state policy. He said that students using the virtual school would be counted the same for attendance purposes as students attending school physically.