Bryan Johnson, a former Hamilton County Schools superintendent in Chattanooga, is slated to become the next superintendent of Atlanta Public Schools.
The Atlanta Board of Education introduced Johnson as the sole finalist for the school district’s top post during a Tuesday press conference. The announcement comes after APS, one of the largest school districts in the state with roughly 50,000 students, has been without a full-time superintendent for nearly a year.
“This is a phenomenal opportunity,” Johnson said. “Atlanta should be, will be, with all of us together in this community, our teachers and leaders in service of students … our goal is to be the best urban school district in the country.
“We’re at an inflection point and we are excited to lean into this work,” he said.
State law requires the board wait 14 days before voting to hire Johnson — the vote is set to happen July 8. Interim Superintendent Danielle Bell will transition from her role by the end of August following the school board vote.
Johnson has spent nearly 20 years in public education, including as superintendent of Hamilton County Schools from 2017 to 2021. In 2021, he was named the Superintendent of the Year by the Tennessee Organization of School Superintendents.
Johnson will be leaving his job as executive chancellor and chief strategy officer of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga to take the job at APS. He has also served as chief transformation officer for U.S. Xpress Enterprises.
“When I was elected as board chair in January, we as a board set a goal to announce the new superintendent by July. I am proud to say that we have achieved that goal. But more importantly, we found the best fit candidate for our district,” said Erika Mitchell, chair of the Atlanta school board.
The search for a new superintendent began last year after the board voted in June not to renew Dr. Lisa Herring’s contract. Herring served from July 1, 2020, until August 2023.
The school board extended its search process in April after the names of applicants were made public, a violation of the process.
