Fulton County school board to vote Thursday on superintendent hire

The Fulton County school board will vote May 2 on the appointment of Mike Looney  as its next superintendent. (ALYSSA POINTER/ALYSSA.POINTER@AJC.COM)

Credit: Alyssa Pointer

Credit: Alyssa Pointer

The Fulton County school board will vote May 2 on the appointment of Mike Looney as its next superintendent. (ALYSSA POINTER/ALYSSA.POINTER@AJC.COM)

The Fulton County school board will meet Thursday to vote on hiring the district’s next superintendent.

Last month, the board announced Mike Looney, superintendent of Williamson County Schools in Franklin, Tenn., as its only finalist for the job.

The board will go into a closed session first, beginning at 9:30 a.m. and then meet publicly at 10 a.m. to vote on his appointment.

The meeting will take place at Fulton County Schools North Learning Center, 450 Northridge Parkway in Sandy Springs.

The Fulton school system is Georgia's fourth largest district with about 95,000 students. The school board launched a national search for its next top administrator after the resignation last fall of Jeff Rose, who had been superintendent since 2016.

Looney, 56, has spent nearly a decade at the helm of his roughly 40,000-student district, in a suburb of Nashville. He previously worked in school systems in Alabama.

The Fulton school board visited the Tennessee district last week. Georgia law requires a 14-day period between announcing a finalist and a vote to hire the person.

“The board is very appreciative for all of the interaction and thoughtful comments and questions we have received during the public input process,” said school board president Linda Bryant, in a written statement. “We look forward to potential action on the candidacy during this meeting.”