The Alexandria City School Board voted tonight (Oct. 8) to appoint the school division’s next superintendent.
Jharrett Bryantt, superintendent of the Anchorage School District in Alaska, will become Alexandria City Public Schools’ superintendent, effective Feb. 1, 2027. The School Board announced the appointment following a closed session at its meeting.
Bryantt was chosen through a national search by the School Board with assistance from executive search firm Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates. The search began after former Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt announced her planned resignation earlier this year. When Kay-Wyatt moved up her resignation date in August, Grace Taylor was appointed as acting superintendent.
School Board Chair Chris Harris said a lot of qualified candidates applied for the position, but Bryantt “brings experience leading a large, diverse school division with a focus on academic achievement, educator recruitment and retention, expanding college and career opportunities for students.”
Since July 2022, Bryantt has overseen a district of 40,000 students across 90 schools in Anchorage, Alaska. According to ACPS, the district under his leadership has focused on early literacy, student achievement and expanding opportunities for college and career pathways through the Academies of Anchorage. Bryantt started his career as a high school math teacher and has also held leadership roles at the Houston Independent School District. He has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Yale University and master’s and doctoral degrees in education leadership and policy from The University of Texas at Austin.
“Dr. Bryantt’s experience leading a large and diverse school system, his focus on accelerating student achievement and his commitment to expanding postsecondary pathways align strongly with the work underway in ACPS,” Harris said in a release.
In virtual remarks to the School Board, Bryantt said he intends “to really plant deep roots and to work in collaboration with this community to take us to a really bright future.”
“The health of a city is deeply intertwined with the success of our public school[s], and we’re going to have to make a lot of difficult and exciting decisions together,” Bryantt said. “But what I want you to know in this moment, for all of our elected officials in the City of Alexandria, is that you have a partner in me from day one because it’s going to take that close collaboration and strong relationship to take Alexandria to where we want to go.”
Bryantt will join ACPS after it has faced a challenging budget year and has not yet finalized its first collective bargaining agreement. In the last budget, the School Board cut 56 staff positions, made program cuts and increased facility use fees and employee health care contributions.
On the academic side, achievement gaps remain a concern. The school district recently announced all of its schools are fully accredited under the state’s school performance and support framework, but 15 schools received a federal support and improvement designation and one received a comprehensive support and improvement designation due to underperformance of student groups. Only one school did not receive the federal designation. Gaps for students with disabilities were noted in 15 of the federally identified schools’ designation.
Bryantt’s four-year contract approved by the School Board runs through June 30, 2030 and provides an annual salary of $310,000.
ACPS says additional information on the superintendent transition will be shared as Bryantt’s start date approaches. Harris thanked Taylor for her leadership during the transition.
“Over the coming months, the board and division leadership will work to support an orderly transition and provide opportunities for Dr. Bryantt to become familiar with our schools and community,” Harris said. “We recognize the importance of this leadership and transition and remain committed to working together in the best interests of our students and the Alexandria community.”
