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Jo Anne Byerly said Friday she will retire as Kannapolis City Schools superintendent at the end of the current academic year, after 33 years with the school system.
Byerly, who has headed the school system since 2001, said she is leaving the position to have more personal time.
“I love this school system, and I'll always be a part of it,” said Byerly, who was hired in Kannapolis in 1976 as a teacher at Fred L. Wilson Elementary School. “But after almost 40 years in education, I feel it's time for me to spend more time with my family, and to let someone else have a chance to lead this wonderful school system.”
Under Byerly's leadership, the Kannapolis City Schools landed more than $4 million in grants over the past two years for technology education. She also launched a Freshman Academy at A.L. Brown High School, to lower the dropout rate, and added a preschool program to the system. She was a driving force behind construction of an $11 million Biotechnology Academy at the high school, which already offers such high-level courses as Mandarin Chinese, Honors Genetics and Biotechnology, Latin, and Advanced Placement Physics.
“We all knew this day was coming, but she certainly has earned it,” school board Chair Danita Rickard said of Byerly. “She has taken this school system to new heights and paved the way for a very bright future.”
Ed Tyson, whose retirement as superintendent in 2001 led to Byerly taking the position, said his successor “makes everybody better.”
“People want to work hard for her, because they see her faith in the school system, and her optimism for what can be,” Tyson added.
Rickard said that by making the announcement now, Byerly has given the school board ample time to find a replacement.
Byerly is an Alamance County native who received bachelors and masters degrees from Appalachian State University and her doctorate from UNC Chapel Hill.
After five years as a teacher in the Kannapolis City Schools, Byerly was promoted to a curriculum coordinator in 1981, then director of instruction in 1989. She became an assistant superintendent in 1992 and associate superintendent five years later.
