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Brandon Carpenter will not have much time to enjoy his summer break after being named the new director of schools for Carter County.

Carpenter, who begins July 1, said he is “very humbled” by the opportunity.

“I have had a lot of community, teacher, and student support and that means a lot,” Carpenter said. “Growing up here and living my whole life in Carter County, there is no place that I rather be. I look forward to establishing Carter County Schools as one of the better districts in the state … I am excited to get to work.”

Carpenter will follow Dr. Tracy McAbee, who is leaving for Lewis County Schools. Carter inherits several ongoing projects, including the Hunter School project and pressure from some county officials to close Keenburg and Unaka Elementary schools.

“We are going to make decisions that are in the best interests of our kids and our communities,” Carpenter said. “We are going to work together with other agencies in the community, and we are going to do what is best for our kids and our communities as a whole.”

His first challenge will be establishing a central office team.

“The hardest thing is that we have to hit the ground running and get a team together in our Central Office,” said Carpenter. “I want to put some of my own things in place and move some things around. Time is of the essence because before you know it, school will be started back and it takes a lot of time to prepare things for the upcoming year. We are going to get started and give it everything that we have.”

When Carpenter was interviewed by the school board, he said that the trust people have in him is why he would be the right person for the job. He said on Friday he felt that was one of the reasons that he was selected for the position.

“For the people in Carter County to go out and make sure our board members and leaders of the community knew that I could do the job is very humbling,” Carpenter said. “They put a lot of confidence and trust in me and I plan on delivering for them. We are going to do everything that we can to turn Carter County Schools around and headed in the right direction.”