SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Feb. 23, 2021 (Gephardt Daily) — The Salt Lake City School District Board of Education on Tuesday night named the district’s new superintendent.
The Board voted unanimously to appoint Timothy Gadson, Ph.D, as the incoming superintendent and, pending contract negotiations, he is expected to move into that position on July 1.
He was one of three finalists for the superintendency.
Dr. Gadson currently is associate superintendent of high schools with Anoka-Hennepin Schools in Anoka, Minn.
According to an announcement on the Salt Lake School District’s website, Gadson has served as an assistant principal and principal at various levels, from elementary school to high school and in alternative education in Florida’s Broward and Palm Beach counties. He also was district director of secondary education while employed with Palm Beach County School District.
Gadson received his bachelor’s degree in Business Economics and Secondary Education from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University in Tallahassee, Florida, and his master’s degree and doctorate in philosophy from Washington State University in Pullman, Washington.
He led reform and transformation efforts at several high schools in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as Chief Transformation Officer with a private transformation firm from 2010 to 2012. He also supervised high school operations for the Austin Independent School District in Austin, Texas, served as associate superintendent with Atlanta Public Schools, and was executive director of curriculum and schools with Robbinsdale Area Schools in New Hope, Minnesota.
“We are excited to welcome Dr. Gadson to the Salt Lake City School District,” Board President Melissa Ford said. “We had the opportunity to interview three great finalists last week, but Dr. Gadson stood out for his focus on putting students first. In a district with so much diversity, robust academic programming, and a wide variety of student needs, we need a leader who will keep the focus where it needs to be: on our students.”
Board Vice President Nate Salazar added, “Our goal in this search was to select the best candidate for our district; someone who would represent what our community was looking for and who would put our students first. Dr. Gadson is a model of the most important attributes our community told us they wanted, and I know we’ll see great things from him here in the Salt Lake City School District.”
