Asheville City Schools names new superintendent, again
ASHEVILLE - For the second time in a month, Asheville City Board of Education has named a new superintendent. The June 8 announcement introduced those gathered at the special called meeting to Maggie Fehrman, current superintendent with City Schools of Decatur, Georgia.
Before 23 years of service in public education, and experience as a teacher, assistant principal, principal, executive director of schools, assistant superintendent and superintendent, she grew up on a dairy farm in Pennsylvania.
“Serving as Superintendent in City Schools of Decatur was truly an honor. I was humbled to have the opportunity to work with such talented educators, staff, and leaders,” Fehrman said in a June 8 news release from the district. “I believe the role of the superintendent is to create an environment where all the work in the district is centered on what is best for students and empowering teachers as professionals so they can be highly effective educators.”
Fehrman's first day with the district is July 17.
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The appointment comes after Rick Cruz, briefly named Asheville's new superintendent on May 15, announced on June 6 he would not be assuming the position due to a family medical emergency.
ACS Spokesperson Dillon Huffman said Fehrman was another of the four finalists narrowed from a pool of 49 applicants with the help of the Asheville-based Summit Search Solutions Inc., which the board selected in February at a fixed project fee of $30,000.
The pivot did not carry a financial cost for ACS, he said.
"The four superintendent finalists the Board interviewed were all exceptionally qualified, and the Board is confident in our next superintendent," Huffman said in a June 8 email. "The leading candidate is a former principal and current superintendent, who is a proven servant leader. They bring a strong commitment to both equity and excellence."
In prior years, Asheville City Schools has faced a "revolving door of superintendents," board members have noted. Fehrman will be the district's seventh leader since 2013, not counting Cruz.
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'LEAD'
“I’m a people person. I put people first in everything that I do," Fehrman said in her first address to the board. “And in the business of education, our students are the most important people that we have to take care of and serve each and every day.”
Fehrman has served as superintendent in Decatur since May 2021.
"Her leadership has propelled the district to remarkable success, ranking first in the state of Georgia for student performance in crucial categories such as 3rd-grade reading, 5th-grade reading, and English language arts," said the release. "Furthermore, the district achieved an outstanding high school graduation rate of 96.73% and secured the top spot in the state for SAT and ACT performance in 2021 and 2022."
City Schools of Decatur is a district with nine schools and had 5,637 students in the 2021-22 school year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
Asheville City Schools had 4,218 students in the same year.
During her tenure in Georgia, she spearheaded the establishment of a "Leadership Academy" to develop a pipeline for aspiring leaders across all staff groups, resulting in a 70% increase in the percentage of leaders of color in the district, said the release.
During her about 20 minute introduction to the board, she touched on issues of equity, removing barriers for students, and teacher retention. She even laid out the four phases of her entry plan, with the acronym LEAD: "Listening and learning, Engage, Action Planning and Design."
“I couldn’t wait to get started, so I already got started,” she joked. “If you don’t create an acronym out of something in education, you’re probably not doing it right.”
Background on the search
The board vote to elect Fehrman to the position was unanimous.
“We are so excited for what she brings to this district, her commitment to our children, her commitment to staff, her long dedication as a public servant in public schools as a teacher, a principal and a superintendent," said Chair George Sieburg. "From the first moment that we met her on paper and then on Zoom, how she spoke so passionately about equity in a school system, and what that means for our children, is why she has risen to the top.”
Fehrman earned her bachelor’s degrees in anthropology and secondary education from Clarion University in 2000, and a Master of Education and education specialist degrees from Georgia State University in 2005 and 2007, focusing on educational leadership. In 2013, she went on to earn her doctorate in Educational Policy Studies at Georgia State University with a focus on research, measurements, and statistics.
The process that resulted in Cruz's appointment, and now Fehrman, is the district's first superintendent search since it selected Gene Freeman in 2019. Freeman left two years into his four-year contract, taking with him a $94,000 buyout, about $23,500 more than he would have made in his final 5 1/2 months had he stayed on the job.
Interim Superintendent Jim Causby has served since June after Freeman's early departure.
Causby makes an annual salary of $183,000, and Freeman made $150,000, plus his local supplement.
Huffman said Fehrman's four-year contract is the same as Cruz’s, excepting the July 17 start date, with an annual base salary of $215,000, not including any local or state supplements.
The starting salary for a new teacher at ACS is $40,330.
Sarah Honosky is the city government reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. News Tips? Email shonosky@citizentimes.com or message on Twitter at @slhonosky. Please support local, daily journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Asheville City Schools names new superintendent, again
