Computer guru Brian Fancher named Hoover City Schools 2015 Employee of the Year
Brian Fancher, the computer network administrator for Hoover City Schools, was named the school district’s 2015 Employee of the Year today at the Hoover Area Chamber of Commerce luncheon.
Fancher, a 30-year-old Hoover resident, maintains, monitors and upgrades the school system’s technical network equipment and servers.
On any given day, Hoover schools may have 28,000 electronic devices connected to the system’s network, including hard-wired and wireless devices, Fancher said. His job is to make sure the system doesn’t choke under the load, he said.
“It’s a fun challenge,” Fancher said. “There’s always something going on, and with us pushing the education technology envelope, there’s always something to keep me on my toes.”
Bryan Phillips, the chief technology officer for Hoover City Schools and Fancher’s supervisor, said Fancher is an extremely dedicated employee.
“He’s the busiest, nonstop person I know,” Phillips said. “With him, it’s 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. When everybody else is gone, he’s there working. He’s amazing. He makes everything easy.”
Just last week, the school district’s phone system went down. Fancher was on vacation but took three days out of his vacation to get the problem resolved, Phillips said.
Fancher has been with Hoover City Schools since 2008. He is a 2003 graduate of Hoover High School and has a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. In his spare time, he enjoys caving, rappelling, skydiving and “Tough Mudder” competitions.
Other finalists for 2015 Employee of the Year were:
- Brandi Marcrum, a physical education aide at Deer Valley Elementary School.
- Margaret Pruitt, a custodian at Gwin Elementary School
- Lisa Yancey, the district’s student services office manager
Fancher and the others were honored today at the Hoover chamber luncheon at the Hyatt Regency Birmingham – The Wynfrey Hotel.
Hoover schools Superintendent Kathy Murphy was the guest speaker today and took advantage of her first address to the chamber as a chance to brag on the district. See that story here.