Atlanta school board names Bryan Johnson as new superintendent

A new superintendent will welcome about 50,000 Atlanta Public School students back to the classroom when they return for the first day of school on Aug. 1.

Why it matters: Bryan Johnson 's selection as APS' newest leader comes more than a year after Lisa Herring resigned from the post she'd held since 2020.

Driving the news: Board of Education members unanimously named Johnson, the sole finalist for the position, to serve as superintendent at their meeting on Monday.

• He will succeed Danielle Battle , who was hired as APS' interim superintendent last August.
• His first day on the job will be Aug. 5.

What they're saying: Johnson said in a statement he looks forward to working with the board to "ensure our students are prepared for the future."

• "We all [understand] that we are in an emergent time in the city of Atlanta where for too long the community and our city has not felt like we've gotten a return that we deserve on our investment in education," said board member Alfred "Shivy" Brooks. "And I truly believe that Dr. Johnson understands the emergency of the moment."

The other side: At Monday's meeting, parent Wykeisha Howe told the board after watching some of the town halls that Johnson attended recently online, she urged the board to "beg" Battle to stay on.

• "I think this young man may not understand Atlanta and what we are," she said. "We are in a critical situation, and we do not have the space for someone to learn how to take care of our community and our babies."

Catch up quick: Johnson is the executive vice chancellor and chief strategy officer at the University of Tennessee's Chattanooga campus, a position he's held since 2021.

• Before that, he served as superintendent of the Hamilton County School District in Tennessee, also in Chattanooga, which has about 45,000 students.
• During his time with Hamilton County, the Tennessee Organization of School Superintendents named Johnson the 2021 superintendent of the year , and he was a 2021 finalist for national superintendent of the year.

What we're watching: At last week's town hall at Sutton Middle School, Johnson was peppered with questions about his plans to improve literacy, services for students with special needs and how he plans to equitably distribute advance courses.

The bottom line: Johnson told Axios last week that he's returning to K-12 education because "this is my love, my heart [and] my passion."

• "I did get to spend the last two or three [years] in completely different spaces, which has only cemented some of my convictions around why this work is so important," he said.

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