Next Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent Is From Tennessee

Bryan Johnson, former superintendent of Hamilton County Schools in Chattanooga, is expected to become the next superintendent of Atlanta Public Schools.

The Atlanta school board introduced Johnson as the sole finalist for the school district’s top job during a news conference Tuesday. The announcement comes after APS, one of the state’s largest school districts with about 50,000 students, has been without a full-time superintendent for nearly a year.

“It’s a phenomenal opportunity,” Johnson said. “Atlanta should be, will be, with all of us together in this community, our teachers and our leaders serving students…our goal is to be the best urban school district in the country.”

“We are at an inflection point and we are excited to lean into this work,” he said.

State law requires the board to wait 14 days before voting to hire Johnson — the vote is expected to take place July 6. Interim Superintendent Danielle Bell will leave her position by the end of August after the school board vote.

Johnson spent nearly 20 years in public education, including serving as superintendent of Hamilton County Schools from 2017 to 2021. In 2021, he was named Superintendent of the Year by the Tennessee Organization of School Superintendents ,

Johnson will leave his position as executive chancellor and chief strategy officer of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga to take the position at APS. He also served as Chief Transformation Officer at US Xpress Enterprises.

“When I was elected board president in January, we as a board set a goal of announcing the new superintendent by July. I am proud to say that we achieved this goal. But more importantly, we found the best fit for our district,” said Atlanta School Board President Erika Mitchell.

The search for a new superintendent began last year after the board voted in June against renewing Dr. Lisa Herring’s contract. Herring served from July 1, 2020 to August 2023.

The school board extended its search process in April after the candidates’ names were made public, a violation of the process.