Take it as a compliment.
That’s how Steve Knudsen, chair of the Gwinnett County Board of Education, framed the short-lived recruitment dance between Atlanta Public Schools and Calvin Watts, Gwinnett’s superintendent since 2021.
Thursday’s Gwinnett school board meeting was the first since The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported June 11 that Watts met with the Atlanta school board and a community panel about the open APS superintendent job. The next day, Watts said he would remain in the Gwinnett post.
Gwinnett school board member Tarece Johnson-Morgan, who last year cast the lone vote against extending Watts’ contract in Gwinnett, said Thursday that his participation in the APS search came as “a complete shock.”
“I wasn’t aware. I was really surprised about the news, and I know we also have communicated several times that part of what we would prefer, what we need, from our superintendent is communication before it hits the media,” she said.
On June 12, Watts told Gwinnett families and employees in a letter that while he had been approached by a search firm working for APS and met with district leaders, he would “continue to serve” at Gwinnett County Public Schools.
“We are making tremendous progress in our strategic plan to provide each and every student with the education they need and deserve. Therefore, I want us to continue our work together as Team GCPS,” he wrote.
Though he sat alongside board members at the same long table Thursday, Watts did not chime in during their conversation about his job prospects.
Board member Adrienne Simmons said it would have been “helpful” for a board spokesman to provide a comment on the situation.
Knudsen said he wasn’t surprised by Atlanta’s interest in Gwinnett’s leader.
“While I didn’t see or hear about the article before it came out, I wasn’t shocked. In fact, I think in some ways, from my perspective, it’s a compliment that other districts want to come after a successful superintendent who has got his district moving in the right direction,” Knudsen said.
He added: “For APS to try to find a successful candidate nearby, that’s not a surprise to me at all. And I’m excited that Dr. Watts found that his heart’s still in Gwinnett. I’m looking forward to building on that.”
The Atlanta school board this week announced it selected Bryan Johnson, a former superintendent of Tennessee’s Hamilton County Schools, as its sole finalist for superintendent.
