Hoover school board picks Dee Fowler as next superintendent

The Hoover Board of Education today voted 4-1 to appoint Dee Fowler, a retired deputy superintendent for the Alabama Department of Education and former superintendent for Madison City Schools, as Hoover’s next superintendent.

The board authorized board President Deanna Bamman to negotiate a contract with Fowler, including his salary and start date. Bamman said she would like to have Fowler in the superintendent’s seat by June 1, but no later than July 1, if possible.

Fowler has more than 40 years experience in public education in Alabama, including 23 years as a teacher and administrator in Madison County Schools and 18 years as a central office administrator for Madison City Schools (including 10 years as superintendent).

He then served about a year as deputy state superintendent and chief of staff for the Alabama Department of Education before retiring in January 2018 and since has worked as a consultant, motivational speaker and interim superintendent for Morgan County Schools.

The school board, with the help of the Alabama Association of School Boards, conducted a thorough search for a superintendent in late 2020 but eliminated the five finalists the board interviewed in February.

The board then turned to its attorney for advice on how to proceed with other options.

Bamman today said Fowler’s name had been thrown around as a possibility for superintendent last year, but he had retired and did not apply for the job.

But Bamman said that, after Hoover’s finalists were not deemed a good fit for the district right now, his name came up again, and the board pursued talks.

Each board member had a chance to talk with him as individuals, not as a group, and a majority of board members felt he met the criteria that the Hoover community had established for its next superintendent, Bamman said.

He has decades of experience, has led a district that mirrors Hoover and has a proven track record, she said.

Board member Craig Kelley said Fowler knows what it takes to lead a district the size of Hoover, understands the Hoover district, has good contacts at the state level and understands the compassion and discipline it takes to be a good leader.

Kermit Kendrick was the only board member to vote against hiring Fowler but said his opposition was not toward Fowler as an individual. He just couldn’t vote to hire someone to be the top leader for the school district when that person did not apply for the job or go through the public interview process.

“He has a great resume and a good track record. We’ll see how it works out,” Kendrick said. “I look forward to working with Dr. Fowler to make this the best school district we can possibly make it.”

Fowler said he’s very excited about the opportunity to become Hoover’s next superintendent. He feels a very close connection to Hoover because he comes from a school district — Madison City Schools — that tried very much to mirror Hoover City Schools.

The consultant that helped Madison City Schools break away from Madison County Schools was Robert Mitchell, the first superintendent for Hoover City Schools.

The Hoover district was created 10 years before Madison City Schools, and Fowler said he even toured the Hoover central office before Madison built its central office.

“We wanted an office like Hoover. We wanted academics like Hoover. We wanted athletics liked Hoover. We never got there,” he said. “Hoover has such a rich tradition. … I am frightened to begin this process because I know the standard in Hoover, and my prayer is that I will live up to that high standard and that we will make safety and academics our No. 1 goal in this district.”

Fowler said the biggest challenge facing any school district right now is how to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Any decisions regarding in-person instruction, virtual instruction and masks will be decisions made by the school board and with community input, Fowler said.

He’s not prepared to make any recommendations on those subjects until he gets into the job, gets his feet wet and learns more about the specifics of what Hoover is facing, he said.

A group called Hoover-AHEAD, which has a mission of celebrating diversity and promoting equity and inclusion, on Tuesday sent a letter to school board members, saying the group was disappointed with the way the superintendent search has been conducted.

The group did not believe the board publicly communicated its input to the Alabama Association of School Boards when it conducted the search for Hoover or that enough of the finalists selected by the search firm had enough experience dealing with diversity, equity and inclusion.

When the board announced on April 5 it would not proceed with any of the finalists, one board member indicated the board wants someone with a “Hoover feel.” The Hoover-AHEAD group, in its letter this week, said “nebulous statements like this historically have been used to circumvent hiring qualified minorities and women.”

Also, the group said the school board did not do a good job of communicating its search process since that time.

Bamman today declined to comment specifically about the Hoover-AHEAD letter but said the school board has listened to many voices in the school district and city about what they want in their next superintendent and believes Fowler meets those criteria.

“Don’t judge Dr. Fowler until you meet him,” Bamman said.