The excitement was palpable in the Troy City Schools board room on Thursday.

The board had convened for a special meeting, the first since it finalized a contract with new superintendent Lee Hicks. The sole purpose of the meeting was to vote on personnel issues, particularly the hiring of a principal for Charles Henderson Middle School – a post whose vacancy had created a great deal of heartburn for administrators and board members.

With the formal approve of Aaron Brown’s hiring, even as he and his family sat in the front row, an audible sign of relief swept the room.

Afterwards, Hicks talked candidly about the speed with which he and administrators moved to hire Brown this week.

“It’s because of those ladies over there,” he said, gesturing to a small group of middle school faculty members who have been present for all the board meetings during the past two months interviews, hirings and more. “They told me I had to hire someone, and to do it quickly.”

And Hicks understood how important getting the right leadership in place at the campuses is to the faculty members. “It was something we needed to do, quickly.”

The unsung heroes of the past six months have been the administrators, central office staff and faculty members who have kept the Troy City Schools running and moving forward through the extended superintendent search and the process of filling two campus principal posts with less than three months to go before classes start.

They earned some much-deserved praise from board members on Thursday night, for all the work they’ve done to this point.

And now that the primary leadership question has been resolved with the hiring of Hicks, these folks who’ve been trying to keep the district moving forward can remove the last of the obstacles and plow full-steam ahead, with willing leadership and support.