After 13 months, Donna Lowry is leaving her role as spokeswoman of the Cobb County School District for a leading role with Fulton County Schools.
She spent nearly three decades in journalism primarily as an education reporter with 11Alive until she retired in April 2016. She won seven Emmy Awards during her time reporting.
Lowry took the Cobb schools position July 20, 2016. Her last day will be Sept. 1, and she'll start in Fulton on Sept. 12.
She wanted to make something clear during a Thursday conversation with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “They reached out to me; I didn’t go looking.”
Lowry said she was approached about a week and a half ago.
The “chief communications officer” is an executive position with Fulton. Essentially, she will now be on the type of board in Fulton she reported to in Cobb.
Lowry said the job offers her “a seat at the table” and “the chance to infuse communications ideas and strategies throughout the school district.”
Fulton is creating the position that Lowry is moving into.
Credit: Fulton County Schools
Credit: Fulton County Schools
“Fulton County Schools is fortunate to have attracted a professional with an intricate understanding of communication and its role in education,” Fulton superintendent Jeff Rose said in an announcement.
In Cobb, she managed a nine-person team that produced content for the district website, cable television station and magazine in addition to media relations for the district.
She said John Stafford, senior executive director of Cobb schools’ communications and events, will be helping fill the gaps until her replacement is hired.
Lowry, a mother of students who graduated from Fulton schools, lives in south Fulton.
Here’s what superintendent Chris Ragsdale had to say the first day of Cobb classes this year:
