Dr. Lisa Norris

Lisa resides in McKenzie with her husband, Chuck Norris, and they have two sons, Tyler and Murphy. She is the grandparent of four grandchildren, Cooper, Aiden, Ashton, and Mia.  

Dr. Norris was educated at McKenzie Special School District and has earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree from Bethel University, and a doctorate in education with an emphasis in administration, teaching, and learning from Walden University. She also has completed further study from the University of Tennessee at Martin, University of South Alabama, and Capella University.  

Lisa started her career in the field of law enforcement and is a graduate of Tennessee Law Enforcement Training Academy. She found her niche working with juveniles and served as the youth services officer for Carroll County Juvenile Court and moved into the director’s role to establish and co-created Carroll Academy. She has testified twice in two state legislative hearings and was proud to have Carroll Academy be recognized as a model program to reauthorize the Juvenile Justice Delinquency and Prevention Act.  Additionally, she has served as the director of institutional effectiveness for Bethel University as well as taught college classes for 18 years. Recently, she taught criminal justice classes for high school students in the Carroll County area.  

Lisa has written over 12 million dollars in competitive grants. Moreover, four of those grants have been funded since being appointed director. South Carroll Special School District has received $587,000 in grant funding since July 2022