Russell County native hired as school district's superintendent

Russell County native Brenda Coley is now superintendent of the school district that educated her.

In a called meeting Thursday morning, the Russell County Board of Education unanimously voted to hire Coley, who was the interim superintendent, as the system's new leader.

Board vice president Eugenia Upshaw made the motion, seconded by Dillie Elliott. Also voting for Coley were board president Keith Mitchell, Kenneth Barnes, Jerry Wayne Carpenter and Tommy Pugh. Board member Joseph Williams was absent, but Mitchell has said he hasn't heard any opposition about hiring Coley.

"It's a very humbling experience," Coley told the Ledger-Enquirer after the meeting. "I feel blessed. I feel honored. First and foremost, I give praise to God, because I know, without Him, this opportunity would not have been here."

Coley succeeds Mike Green, who resigned five months ago without a public explanation. She is a 1984 graduate of Russell County High School and has 27 years of experience as an educator in the system. She was the district's administrative services director for 1½ years and principal of Oliver Elementary for nine years. Her other previous positions include assistant principal and teacher at Ladonia Elementary.

After earning education degrees at Auburn University (bachelor's and master's) and Troy University (specialist's), Coley completed her doctorate in administrative leadership this spring through Walden University's online program.

Her main goal, Coley said, is to improve student achievement. "Everything that we do, all decisions, will be based on what is best for children," she said.

Asked what she wants to change in the school district, Coley said, "Right now, we're just kind of assessing, evaluating. We just want to enhance, not make wholesale changes, unless we have to."

As for her major concerns, Coley said, "Of course, safety is always first. Secondly, we want to put a plan in place so that we can target those areas to improve student achievement. I do think we have some areas of deficiency where we want to focus."

Asked to specify those areas, Coley named the subjects of reading and math at the middle school, which is on the state's failing list, and the high school, which is on the state's priority list.

Coley described herself as a servant leader.

"I absolutely love serving others," she said. " It's something I'm really passionate about. I believe that's what God has called me to do."

Russell County's superintendent vacancy attracted interest from 72 prospective candidates, and 15 of them, including Coley, met the minimum qualifications and submitted complete applications by the Aug. 31 deadline, Mitchell said last month.

According to the board's job announcement, the minimum requirements say the superintendent must:

Hold or be in the process of earning a valid six-year certificate in administration and supervision issued by the Alabama State Department of Education.

Have no less than five years of successful educational experience as a classroom teacher and as an administrator or supervisor.

Meet background clearance as specified by Alabama statutes and state board of education regulations.

The salary range was listed as $95,000 to $125,000 per year. Coley's three-year contract, which runs through June 30, 2018, sets her annual compensation at $120,000 in salary and $8,000 in expense allowance.

The only discussion the board had during Thursday's meeting about Coley's employment concerned the length of her buyout clause. The original contract allowed the board to terminate the superintendent without cause by paying 60 days worth of severance. The board, however, agreed with Mitchell's explanation to change it to 184 days, equivalent to a school year.

"We looked at that because of the experiences we worked through in the past with different superintendents," Mitchell told his fellow board members. "But, when you think about it, even though all of us feel comfortable in the position that we hold right now, we're content with Ms. Coley as our superintendent. We've had a chance to see her (as interim superintendent) for a short period of time, but she's also been in the system 27 years, so we kind of grew up with her. But we could go to bed and wake up and somebody has replaced us."

Mitchell was referring to the fact that board members are elected officials who could be ousted after November ballots are cast.

"(Coley) could wake up with two or three new faces here that might not agree that we need an educator in this position but more of a business manager and then try to make a change," Mitchell said. "It would put her or anybody else in this position in an awkward state to be told you've got 60 days, because that time of the year is not a good time to start looking for a job in education."

Mitchell said last month that any superintendent interview the board conducts will be open to the public. The board didn't interview any candidates, Mitchell said Tuesday, "because we looked at those that applied, and I guess nobody on paper kind of stood out as a candidate that was going to be far greater than what we have."

Asked what stands out about Coley, the board president said, "Just her being in the system and being kind of familiar with everything going on around here. We're not in a hard time, and we have some pretty seasoned board members in place, so we don't want to wait two to three months for somebody to get used to it here."

According to Alabama law, boards of education that fail to fill their superintendent vacancy within 180 days shall have their state funding withheld until one is hired, unless the state superintendent determines the board "exhibits good faith and reasonable effort in progress toward selecting a superintendent."

That means Oct. 28 was the deadline for Russell County. The board's next regular meeting is scheduled for Oct. 27, but the called meeting was necessary, Mitchell said, to meet another deadline set by the Alabama State Department of Education.

"They wanted us to have somebody in place by the 15th for some report due to the state," he said, adding that the report is related to the district's fiscal year that ended Oct. 1.

The called meeting started at 7:30 in the morning, Mitchell said, because it was the best time to assure a quorum.

Mark Rice, 706-576-6272. Follow him on Twitter@MarkRiceLE.

This story was originally published October 15, 2015 at 4:58 PM with the headline "Russell County native hired as school district's superintendent ."