This story was updated on Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, at 7:59 p.m.
The Gwinnett County Board of Education ended Superintendent Calvin Watts’ contract prematurely by a vote of 3-2 on Friday.
The educator’s term will end on April 2, 2025. Al Taylor, the current chief of schools at Gwinnett County Public Schools, will serve as the interim superintendent as confirmed by a 4-1 vote by the board.
Board members cast their votes during a special meeting on Friday.
Gwinnett County Board of Education Chair Adrienne Simmons wrote in a statement to WABE that “new leadership” was needed for the board’s forward-looking vision.
“As a board, we are charged with establishing vision, which entails looking forward and not solely backward. We appreciate the wins that we have accomplished as a district with Dr. Watts,” Simmons wrote. “In light of our vision, the board has determined that new leadership is needed at the helm. Our vote represents the pursuit of sustaining the success of GCPS learners, while enhancing educational outcomes particularly for multilingual learners, students receiving special education services, and students from low-income families.”
The board will conduct a “transparent, nationwide” search for a new superintendent in the next few months, according to Simmons.
“I want to reassure our community that the success of the district as a whole is our priority, and we made a choice that we believe is in the best interest of each and every student,” Simmons added. “Dr. Al Taylor has our full support as interim superintendent.”
Watts did not respond to a request for comment.
Watts started his role as superintendent in 2021 and formerly served as the Kent School District superintendent in Washington state.
At GCPS, Watts created a superintendent-student advisory council in 2022 to solicit feedback from students on the strategic plan and joined WABE’s “Closer Look” host Rose Scott to talk about the council and his goals.
Recently, he opposed a state effort to use Georgia’s “divisive concepts” law to delist Advanced Placement in African American Studies from the state catalog.
In 2024, Georgia Superintendent Richard Woods refused to approve AP African American Studies for the state catalog due to the state’s ban on schools using materials with “divisive concepts.” Then, Woods backtracked slightly, saying local districts could use state funding to teach the material but only if it was labeled as an introductory course.
In protest, Gwinnett County Schools pulled the class.
“Withholding state approval for this AP course sends the message that the contributions and experiences of African Americans are not worthy of academic study at the same level as other approved AP courses,” Watts said in a statement at the time.
After facing backlash, Woods finally said that the restrictions of the divisive concepts law did not apply to AP classes.
