Brunswick County Schools promotes from within for new superintendent

BRUNSWICK COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — Brunswick County’s new top educator won’t have to travel far to move into his new office.

In a unanimous vote during a closed session today, the Brunswick County School Board chose Jerry Oates to be superintendent.

“I am thankful to God for blessing me with the opportunity to lead our school district and I am honored and humbled by our board for their confidence in my leadership,” Jerry Oates in a statement. “I am looking forward to the challenge of transforming our district for the future.”

Oates joined the district in 2015 as the Executive Director of Human Resources. He had previously served in New Hanover County as principal at New Hanover High School, where he was named Principal of the Year in 2015, and principal of Williston Middle School.

“We’re excited about the appointment of Dr. Jerry Oates to Superintendent of Brunswick County Schools,” School Board Chair Charlie Miller said in a news release. “His proven leadership will keep our momentum both inside and outside of the classroom.  He lives here. His kids are in our schools. He’s got big shoes to fill, but I am confident that he not only can handle the duties of Superintendent of Brunswick County Schools, he has the vision to take Brunswick County Schools to the next level.”

Oates will succeed Les Tubb, who retires this week. Tubb announced his retirement earlier this year. He was originally supposed to retire at the end of September, but he decided to stay on one more month due to the impacts of Hurricane Florence.

Tubb became superintendent in March 2015. He had been serving as interim superintendent for four months after the board fired Edward Pruden.

The district said last week that it had narrowed a pool of 28 applicants down to five finalists, but it never publicly announced that it was holding meetings to interview applicants. That seemingly violates North Carolina law governing meetings of public bodies, even when they are held in closed session.

Oates’s contracts runs through June 2022. It pays him a base salary of $157,000.