Coffee County BOE announces superintendent finalists

At the June 15 Coffee County Schools Board of Education meeting, the board approved four finalists for the superintendent position.

Current superintendent Kevin Killingsworth is retiring in August and the new superintendent will take over after that. The finalists include current Coffee County Schools Special Programs Coordinator Gray Harrison, Guntersville City Schools Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Jeff Jones, Coffee County Schools Federal Programs Coordinator Kelly Cobb and Piedmont High School Principal Dr. Adam Clemmons.

Clemmons is a New Market native that graduated from Buckhorn High School before earning his bachelor’s degree in secondary education in social sciences from Auburn University. He also earned a master’s degree in education administration and an educational specialist degree in educational leadership and doctorate in educational leadership from Argosy University in Florida.

Clemmons started his educational career as a middle school and high school teacher at Adairsville High School in Georgia from 2001 until 2006. He then began teaching high school at Model High School in Georgia from 2006 until 2008 before becoming assistant principal at Armuchee Middle School in Georgia in 2008. He has been the principal at Piedmont High School since 2013.

Clemmons is one of three finalists for the 2021 National Principal of the Year, which is presented by the National Association of Secondary School Principals. Clemmons was the Alabama Association of Secondary Principals 2020 Principal of the Year and the 2019 District Six Principal of the Year. He also participated in a principal’s roundtable with U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona this year.

Piedmont High School’s graduation rate has increased by 8 percent since 2013 and the school’s report card has risen more than 15 points since 2017. Piedmont’s athletic programs have also found success during Clemmons’ tenure with a state championship in track and field in 2013 and three state championships in football in 2015, 2016 and 2019. The school has also had five state runners-up with one each in basketball, cheerleading, football and two in baseball.

Cobb is a Coffee County native who earned both an associate’s degree in art and in science at Enterprise State Community College before earning a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in education from Troy University. She also earned her master’s degree in educational leadership and an education specialist degree from Auburn University-Montgomery.

Cobb has spent her entire educational career at Coffee County Schools, starting out as a first grade teacher at Zion Chapel from 1995 until 2007. During that time she also taught summer reading at Fain Elementary in Dothan in 2005 and Pinedale Elementary in Enterprise in 2006. She also served as a member of Zion Chapel’s Literacy Team from 2001 until 2004 and was a member of the Coffee County Reading and Writing Council in 2001.

In 2007, Cobb became reading coach at Kinston for grades kindergarten through sixth grade. She was also the Coordinator for the Accelerated Reading Program, Pearson Learning, Compass Learning and Bucks for Books Reading Program. She also served on a number of the school’s committees, including the School Safety Plan Committee.

Cobb returned to Zion Chapel in 2011 as a reading coach. She was also the coordinator for the Academy of Reading and Math, Accelerated Reader Program and Pearson Learning at Zion Chapel. In 2012, Cobb was named assistant principal at Zion Chapel before becoming principal at New Brockton Elementary in 2014.

In 2015, Cobb moved to the central office where she remains to this day. During her time in the central office she has served as federal programs coordinator, curriculum coordinator, Pre-K coordinator and district administrator. She is has also been the chair for a number of district-wide committees including AdvanceED, Compliance Monitoring, Homeless Plan and more.

Some of the grants that Cobb has been responsible for include a $100,000 grant from the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, a $424,800 federal Pre-K Grant and a $600,000 early learning grant from the state.

Jones received his bachelor’s degree in science and secondary social science from Jacksonville State University and also earned a master’s degree in educational administration and an education specialist degree in instructional leadership from Jacksonville State.

Jones began his career in education as a social science teacher at Arab High School from 2002 until May 2003 and was a social science teacher at Brindlee Mountain High School in Guntersville from 2003 until 2009. During his time at Arab and Brindlee Mountain High he also served as basketball coach, baseball coach and golf coach.

Jones was an instructional coach at Brindlee Mountain High until 2011 when he became assistant principal at Asbury High School in Albertville. He then went on to serve as principal at Asbury Elementary until 2012 and principal at Brindlee Mountain High until 2014.

Jones served as principal at Guntersville Middle School from 2014 until 2017 and has been the chief administrative officer at Guntersville City Schools since 2017.

Jones was the 2009 Marshall County Secondary Teacher of the Year and has served as the District Vice President of the Alabama Association of Secondary School Principals and President of the Marshall County Principals Association.

Harrison – a Dothan native – earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education from Troy University and a master’s degree in physical education from Auburn University. He also earned an educational specialist’s degree in school administration from Columbus State University in Georgia.

Harrison began teaching in 1996 and taught physical education, driver’s education and weight-room training at Smiths Station High School, Smiths Station Elementary School and Wacoochee Junior High School from 1996 until 2001. He was also a physical education teacher, driver’s education teacher and assistant coach at Enterprise High School from 2001 until 2011.

Harrison has been employed by Coffee County Schools since 2011, first as assistant principal at New Brockton High School from 2011 until 2014 and then as principal at New Brockton High School from 2014 until 2018. Harrison has served as special programs coordinator at Coffee County Schools since 2018.

During his time as special programs coordinator Harrison has served as Career and Technical Education Director, Cooperative Education Coordinator, Technology Coordinator and Secondary Curriculum Coordinator.

The board also approved the following personnel decisions.

Employment:

Amy Woodham, teacher, New Brockton Elementary;

Hannah Bednar, ESL teacher, New Brockton Elementary;

Debbie Bond, bookkeeper, New Brockton High School;

Resignations:

Anna Laura Kirchharr, teacher, Zion Chapel High; and

Travis Adams, band director, Kinston School.