Hiring for K12’s top spot slowed for the first time in months over the last week. In the latest edition of “Super Moves,” we’re recognizing new superintendents in East Baton Rouge, the Alamance-Burlington School System and Satsuma City Schools—as well as a retirement or two.
LaMont Cole is moving from city hall to the central office of the East Baton Rouge Parish School System. Cole most recently served as mayor pro tem of the East Baton Rouge Parish Metro Council and chief academic officer of CSAL Inc., a Baton Rouge-based charter school network.
Cole has 20 years of experience in the education sector, having also been a middle school principal in East Baton Rouge Parish, which also named veteran educator Adam Smith deputy superintendent.
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“Whether or not you are a family with a child in a public school here in the city of Baton Rouge, public education matters,” Cole said at a press conference. “It matters for the greater good of our city because public education touches every aspect here in our city, and we have to make sure that we engage, we invite, we collaborate, we communicate and we listen to every member of this community who is concerned about public education.”
In North Carolina, Superintendent Aaron Fleming is moving from Harnett County Schools to take the helm at the Alamance-Burlington School System. Fleming has led Harnett County since 2017 and was named the 2021 and 2022 Sandhills Regional Superintendent of the Year.
Fleming started his career as an agricultural education teacher and Future Farmers of America advisor in Cabarrus and Johnston counties.
Interim superintendent Dana Price has been promoted to permanent superintendent of Alabama’s Satsuma City Schools. She has taught in elementary, middle and high school, and has also been a student, parent, substitute, coach, teacher, lead teacher, federal programs coordinator, principal and central office director with Satsuma City Schools.
In central office, “Price has worked with local industry and business leaders to develop strategic partnerships to support students and teachers,” the district noted on its website.
Super moves: Departures
Superintendent Jim F. Chadwell of Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD in Texas is retiring at the end of the 2024 fall semester after 31 years in public education in Texas. Chadwell led the district for 14 years and previously served as an administrator in Grapevine-Colleyville and Northwest ISDs. In Alabama, Superintendent Zickeyous Byrd announced he will retire from Selma City Schools on Sept. 30 after two years leading the district, The Selma Times-Journal reports.
