Dr. Lisa Herring speaks on her accomplishments, leading the Atlanta School District for 2 years

ATLANTA — Former Atlanta Public Schools superintendent Dr. Lisa Herring spoke with Channel 2 Action News for the first time after joining the United States Department of Education.

In a one-on-one exclusive, Channel 2′s Karyn Greer spoke with Herring about her two years leading the district and her advice for her successor.

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Herring said she was not surprised by the Atlanta School Board’s decision to not renew her contract after the 2023-2024 school year.

However, she is proud of her accomplishments while leading the state’s sixth-largest school district.

“So the biggest accomplishment, I’m proud of a couple of things. But first and foremost, I’m proud of the students. And that contrary to all of the challenges that we face, Atlanta Public School saw its highest graduation rate ever in history. And that number one goes to students and teachers and of course, principals,” said Herring.

In June, APS board members announced they would not be renewing Herring’s contract, without giving a reason. But Herring told Greer after coming out of a global pandemic, the board graded her work satisfactory in her evaluation six months earlier.

She said she was not totally shocked by the decision.

“No, I don’t want to use the term shocked. And I’m always appreciative of evaluations, they’re necessary. But uh, you know, you started out by simply naming coming in during the pandemic and having the transition of leadership, not just me, but also the transition of the board,” she said.

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Now, the former superintendent is the head of the Propel Center which will be housed at Clark Atlanta University.

It will be working closely with the nation’s historically black colleges and universities and funded by Apple and The Georgia Southern Company.

“Our core work is focused on partnerships with HBCUs to ensure that students who have chosen an HBCU experience have the opportunity to also expand their work and their careers and their trajectory in the areas of entrepreneurship, innovation, technology, and even the unknown,” said Herring.

Herring said she chose not to stay until the end of her contract next year so a new leader could be chosen.

Her new position started Monday.

“I’m also just deeply honored to be able to work with our United States Secretary of Education, Dr. Cardona as a strategic advisor. So I’ve come aboard as a consultant and doing so in that work, it stays in line with the K-12 spectrum of work.

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