The Atlanta school board voted unanimously Monday to hire Bryan Johnson as the district’s next superintendent.
A Nashville native, Johnson was named Tennessee Superintendent of the Year in 2021, his last year leading Hamilton County Schools in Chattanooga, and was a finalist for National Superintendent of the Year. Johnson most recently served as the executive vice chancellor and chief strategy officer at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC).
Johnson, 41, will take office a little more than a year after the school board decided to part ways with then-Superintendent Lisa Herring. Interim Superintendent Danielle Battle will stay with Atlanta Public Schools until the end of August to help with the transition, the district said. Johnson will be sworn in on Aug. 5.
Johnson said his priorities include the district’s ongoing efforts to improve student performance in literacy, special education, math and college and career preparation.
“Atlanta is a destination job and I look forward to working collaboratively with the board to ensure our students are prepared for their future,” Johnson said in a prepared statement.
The board held a public comment period before the vote on Johnson’s contract, during which parent Wykeisha Howe urged the board to hold off.
“I think this young man may not understand Atlanta and where we are,” said Howe, who attended some of the six meetings held in recent weeks for Johnson to meet the APS community and answer questions. “We are in a critical situation and we do not have the space for someone to learn how to take care of our communities and our babies. So I would urge you to please stop ‘politricks’ and do the right thing for our children.”
Although he didn’t address Howe directly, at-large board member Alfred “Shivy” Brooks responded to some of her concerns. Brooks said Johnson understands the “emergency of the moment” and added that his 12-year-old son will attend seventh grade in APS.
“We have board members with children in the district,” he said. “We have the superintendent with a child that will be in the district. We all have skin in the game. This is not about politics. This is about great outcomes for the kids in the city of Atlanta.”
Johnson responded to Howe’s concerns when talking with reporters afterward.
“I appreciate the reservation,” he said. “I understand that I’m new to the community, and people have to understand who I am and what I’m about. I have a history and a track record of success, and I have a history and a track record of doing this work.”
Credit: Ben Hendren
Credit: Ben Hendren
The board announced Johnson as its sole finalist for the job on June 18, but is required by state law to hold a two-week vetting period before casting a final vote. Atlanta took three weeks.
In Johnson’s meetings with the public, attendees wasted no time detailing problems across the district’s different clusters — from a lack of resources at some schools to problems with special education to concerns about safety, the district’s budget and chronic absenteeism. Johnson told them he took their concerns seriously but also tried to manage expectations.
“I don’t know if I told y’all this, but I didn’t come in here with no cape,” he said during a meeting at Benjamin E. Mays High School on June 27.
Johnson said he planned to use feedback from the town halls to help him put together a plan for his first 100 days in office. He hasn’t offered many specifics, but promised to “attack the work.”
“There is a(n) unapologetic sense of urgency about student achievement,” he said during a meeting at Midtown High School on June 24. “We want to be able to move with a level of focus and precision that puts children in position to succeed, and that success just trickles throughout the district.”
When introducing Johnson as the sole finalist, Atlanta school board Chair Erika Mitchell praised his tenure in Hamilton County, which he led for four years. She credited him with improving academic achievement, boosting teacher retention and building partnerships between schools and businesses.
“He’s a match for our leadership profile,” Mitchell recently told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “The community (panel) had an opportunity to interview him. They gave us positive feedback, which is key, and the board made a unanimous decision that he’d be the best person to lead our district forward.”
Credit: Ben Hendren
Credit: Ben Hendren
Although his contract begins Aug. 5, Atlanta’s first day of school is Aug. 1. Johnson said he hopes to be in schools on the first day.
“That’s the tentative plan,” he said. “Dr. Battle and I’ll work through details of that, and I’ll work obviously with the board around that, but that will absolutely be the plan.”
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