A former Alamance-Burlington School System superintendent has been appointed as interim superintendent.
Bill Harrison was appointed by the Alamance-Burlington Board of Education Monday morning to replace Dain Butler, who resigned March 4 several months of financial, public health and personnel crises for the school system.
Harrison has over four decades of experience in education leadership roles, including serving as superintendent for ABSS from 2014 to 2018. Prior to that, he was the chairman of the North Carolina State Board of Education from 2009 to 2013.
School board Chair Sandy Ellington-Graves said the board is excited to welcome Harrison back.
“As someone who has worked here before, he already knows and understands our staff, students and community very well. His prior experience and familiarity with both the strengths of our schools and the challenges we face will be very beneficial as we work to move forward,” Ellington-Graves said. “I’m confident that under his leadership, we can build even stronger partnerships and make meaningful improvements for our students, families and staff. Bringing back a leader that people know and trust also presents a valuable opportunity to unite our district and our community at a pivotal time in ABSS.”
Harrison’s career path includes roles as an assistant superintendent, principal, and elementary school teacher before becoming a superintendent. In addition to his administrative roles, Harrison has been involved in coaching school principals and superintendents, as well as teaching masters and doctoral-level courses as an adjunct professor at several universities.
Harris has received a contract to serve as interim superintendent through Sept. 18 for $16,200, or $2,700 a month.
Now is a critical period for the school system, not least because it is trying to close a $3.2 million budget shortfall while crafting a budget proposal for the fiscal year that begins July 1.
The school system also let go its chief financial officer under Butler and then suspended Deputy Superintendent Lowell Rogers, who had been named to be interim finance officer, after after the State Bureau of Investigation charged him with misdemeanor failure to report a sex crime against a juvenile.
