Clayton County to conduct search for new school chief

The board voted during a Nov. 7 meeting to conduct the superintendent search, but board members did not discuss its decision.

School board chair Pam Adamson declined to talk about discussions about Jackson, saying the board could not elaborate on personnel matters.

Adamson said during a telephone interview Monday that the purpose of next week’s meeting is to plot out how they will conduct the search. Adamson said they want to begin the search sooner rather than later. The board is planning a national search. Clayton has about 52,000 students, the fifth-largest public school enrollment in the state.

“We’re starting a search so we can have a smooth transition from the current superintendent to the next superintendent,” Adamson said.

Jackson began her career in Clayton in 1976 as a special education teacher and held several jobs in the district. She came out of retirement in September 2012 to become Clayton’s interim superintendent. The school board hired her to serve in the role on a full-time basis in June 2014. Jackson has been closely involved with chief juvenile court Judge Steve Teske to keep students out of the criminal justice system and to reduce out of school suspensions.

Clayton’s graduation rate increased from about 60 percent during the 2013-14 school year to about 69 percent during 2015-16 school year, state records show. The statewide graduation rate increase from 72 percent to nearly 79 percent during the same time period.