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By Fred Guarino

The Lowndes Signal

Lowndes County Board of Education Superintendent Dr. Daniel Boyd is the new Deputy State Superintendent of Instruction for the Alabama Department of Education.

Boyd was unanimously appointed to the position by vote of the State Board of Education, as well as Governor Kay Ivey, on Thursday, June 14 and will replace Dr. Barbara Cooper as chief academic officer, Teaching and Learning Improvement Division.

In making his recommendation to hire Boyd, State Superintendent of Education Dr. Eric Mackey said, “Dr. Boyd is an outstanding educator. He is a good friend. He and I have worked together many years… He is one of the smartest, best educators and one of most committed people with children that we have in this state. And we are thrilled to have him on our staff.”

State Board of Education member Stephanie Bell said she had a family connection with the Calhoun School in Lowndes County and had friends and family who were impressed with his work. And Ivey said Dr. Boyd had an impressive resume’.

Boyd told the Signal, “It’s truly been a sincere pleasure to work with Lowndes County Public Schools the last 17 years,” He said. “I’ve had a wonderful time working to get to meet the people of this great county. We have worked very hard over the years to improve teaching and learning, and we have made great strides. I am humbled to accept the position of deputy state superintendent offered by the Department of Education in Montgomery.”

Boyd said his last day as Lowndes County Superintendent of Instruction will be Thursday, June 28. And the next meeting of the Lowndes County Board will be Thursday, June 21.

When asked, Boyd said his new job will allow him to improve teaching and learning across the whole state for Lowndes, as well as other school systems and be a voice at the state level for Lowndes as well as the entire Black Belt.

He said he will go from working with about 1,500 students to more than 850,000 students.

He said he was asked about his interest in the deputy superintendent position by Mackey.

Boyd said Lowndes County would probably put an interim superintendent in place until a new school superintendent can be appointed to handle the day to day affairs.

Boyd said among the accomplishments the Lowndes County School System achieved in the past 12 years was an improvement in the graduation rate from below 60 percent to 91 percent, according to information released by the State Board of Education this month.

Boyd served as assistant superintendent of education in Lowndes for five years and for 12 years as superintendent of education in Lowndes for the past 12 years.

Boyd’s new contract with the state will begin July 1, but he will assume his new position on July 2. He confirmed his salary will be $186,271.20 annually.

Ben David President of the Lowndes County Board of Education said, “Dr. Boyd has been a tremendous asset to the Lowndes County School System. We’ve seen achievements since he’s been here.”

David said, “All of our buildings have been redone physically… He increased the graduate rate … and our test scores continue to increase.”

Davis said the Lowndes County Board of Education has not had an opportunity to meet yet and would discuss what direction it will take to replace Boyd as an entire board. But, he said, “It is my hope that in the meantime that we will name an interim so that we won’t miss a beat and that we can continue to move us from where he has us not and lot lose anything.”

Lowndes School Superintendent Dr. Daniel Boyd pointing out efforts to improve teaching and learning. He will now work on improving teaching and learning at the state level as deputy state school superintendent.